Paramount Global’s streaming service Pluto TV will offer more than $2.5 million in advertising inventory to humanitarian organizations connected to relief efforts in Ukraine.
The advertisement inventory will be offered to organizations who “can benefit from mobilizing and educating global audiences about the heroic work they are doing during these challenging times,” a company spokesperson affirmed.
The commitment is part of a broader initiative at Paramount Global to participate in humanitarian efforts, with a specific focus on Ukrainian refugees during the country’s conflict with neighboring Russia.
As part of the initiative, Paramount Global said it will offer family-friendly content in the Ukrainian language for free on its various streaming platforms.
On its ad-supported service Pluto TV, Paramount will launch a new channel called Nick Ukraine that will be available in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. The pop-up channel will also be available to two dozen distribution partners in other countries throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East, the company said.
Content on Nick Ukraine will include the popular cartoon “Spongebob Squarepants” as well as shows franchised from the Nick Jr. library, which is aimed at a younger audience. Paramount Global said the Nick Ukraine pop-up channel will not air advertisements, and some content will be simultaneously distributed through YouTube.
Paramount Global said it wanted to provide Ukrainian refugees “comfort and enabl[e] them to continue feeling at home by watching their favorite cartoons, even if abroad.” The company announced its initiative through a collaborative story published by the Hollywood Reporter.
The move comes more than a month after Paramount Global’s chief executive Robert Bakish said the company would donate $1 million to humanitarian relief organizations, match certain charitable donations made by its employees in the United States and United Kingdom, and suspend all business operations in Russia.
“We are using our content and capabilities to help those in need, including the power of our global platforms to ensure the world bears witness to this tragedy, as well as to support humanitarian relief efforts,” Bakish said.
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Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article said Paramount Global was providing $2.5 million in advertising inventory to charitable organizations. A Pluto TV spokesperson later clarified its streaming service, which operates as an autonomous unit of Paramount Global, was donating the advertisement inventory.
