Viacom eyes distributor partnerships for Pluto TV

Viacom’s deal for Pluto TV offers a big advertising revenue opportunity for the company. To expand Pluto’s reach and drive up inventory value, Viacom is eyeing distributor partnerships.Speaking today at a Morgan Stanley investor conference, Viacom CEO Bob Bakish said distributors with large broadband-only subscriber bases face constraints in terms of providing added-value video services without having to take on more fixed costs.Bakish said that Viacom has been in conversations with distributors that offer both home and mobile broadband about providing access to Pluto TV on a no-cost basis so they can offer the product to broadband-only subscribers. He said Viacom will also offer upside in the form of revenue sharing or access to advertising inventory. “It’s a tremendously compelling value proposition. It’s an extension of our partnership approach with distributors where we can now provide value across the whole subscriber base,” said Bakish. “I’ve had conversations with every distributor in the U.S. They all get it and they’re all excited about it. We’ll see some activity shortly in that regard.” Bakish said Viacom will focus its Pluto TV distributor partnership efforts in the U.S. at first, and then it will shift attention to Latin America and eventually more international markets.