Breaking: Walmart+ Adds Ad-Free Pluto TV to Subscription Service; Commercial-Free Titles to Rotate Monthly
When Walmart announced that it would be including the Paramount+ subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming service as part of its Walmart+ membership programming, Paramount Global executives touted the perfect synergy between the two companies. Paramount — via its linear channels like CBS, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Network, streaming services, and movie studio — is proud of its breadth of content options designed to appeal to viewers of all ages from all types of backgrounds.
Similarly, Walmart is a retailer that strives to carry products that are useful and available for consumers of all demographics. So, it is perhaps no surprise that Paramount and Walmart are increasing their relationship by bringing another streaming service into the Walmart+ package. On Thursday, it was announced that Walmart+ customers now will receive ad-free access to select content from Paramount’s traditionally ad-supported streaming service Pluto TV.
Pluto is already free and offers both ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels. However, through Walmart+, now some of the popular content on the service will be available to stream without having to sit through commercials.
Members will be able to access the ad-free Pluto titles via the Walmart+ member portal. From there, they will be guided through the process of creating a free Pluto TV account, and once they’ve done that, they will have immediate access to old favorites like “The Andy Griffith Show” and newer classics like “Everybody Hates Chris.” The select, ad-free content will rotate at the beginning of each month.
At the launch of the program, subscribers will have ad-free access to “Matlock” (Season 1), “The Andy Griffith Show” (Season 1), “Gunsmoke” (Season 7), “Everybody Hates Chris” (Season 1), “CSI: Miami” (Season 3), and “Beverly Hills 90210” (Season 1).
Pluto is already the biggest FAST and AVOD platform, so it will be interesting to see if this bonus access leads to even more eyes on the service. At the end of 2022, Paramount Global reported that the service had over 79 million active users.
