Viacom-owned Pluto TV launches Latino channels

Viacom-owned Pluto TV has added a suite of linear Spanish and Portuguese-language channels to its advertising-supported operation, offering programming from its parent company’s brands Comedy Central and MTV.

Pluto TV Latino offers 11 curated channels designed to appeal to US Hispanic audiences, offering movies, comedy, music, true crime, reality, sports and telenovela programming.

More than 2,000 hours of content has become available on the channels, which launched yesterday and feature shows from Viacom-owned MTV and Comedy Central, as well as NBCuniversal’s Telemundo.

Pluto’s MTV Latino will offer regional versions of reality shows such as Catfish Colombia and Ex On The Beach, while Comedy Central Latino’s slate includes Stand Up México, La Culpa Es De Cortes and La Familia Del Barrio.

Other channels include movie-skewing Pluto TV Cine Estelar, which will offer films including Top Gun and Mission: Impossible, crime-focused Pluto TV Investiga, which will air shows such as The FBI Files and The New Detectives, and Pluto TV Novelas, offering telenovela.

Viacom snapped up Pluto, which streams ad-supported linear channels, in January for $340m and has been expanding its presence around the world. Viacom CEO Bob Bakish recently described the service as “an integral and compelling part” of its offering to advertisers.

Tom Ryan, CEO and co-founder at Pluto TV, said the Latino service would “bring premium streaming programming to an underserved OTT audience with cross-generational appeal.”

He added: “To be the first ad-supported streaming platform to offer an entire category dedicated to US Hispanic audiences is something we are incredibly proud of and furthers our mission to entertain the planet.”