Report: Paramount talking to co-founder of Pluto to sell the service back to him

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A new age is dawning for Paramount Global. The company has agreed to terms on a complex merger deal with Skydance Media, and is considering the best ways to streamline operations as it seeks $2 billion in cost savings. Paramount executives were on the hunt for savings before the Skydance deal won official approval from the company’s higher-ups, and have engaged with outside buyers about a number of its assets. A new report from Streaming Media Blog states that one of those assets is the free, ad-supported streaming service Pluto TV, which Paramount has discussed selling back to its co-founder Tom Ryan.

Citing “multiple sources,” Streaming Media Blog says that talks have taken place between Paramount and Pluto’s co-founder — and current Paramount head of streaming — Tom Ryan about selling the service back to him. These discussions began before the Skydance merger was officially accepted by Paramount’s top brass.

Paramount has not revealed monthly active users on Pluto TV in some time, but it did say that the streamer combined with Paramount+ to boost global viewing hours by 27% in the final quarter of 2023. In early July, a study by SRG found that Pluto TV had cracked the top 20 list of “Must Have” TV brands for the first time in its history.

Ryan’s talks with Paramount sound as if they’re in the preliminary stages. Reportedly no numbers have changed hands, nor has an official valuation been placed on Pluto. But according to Jeff Shell, who will take the role of Paramount president when the Skydance merger is completed, incoming management will sign off on deals crafted by current Paramount officials if the price is right.

“There are assets here which we think are not strategic to where we’re going that if we were to get a buyer to pay a price that we thought was compelling, we would absolutely do that,” Shell said after the merger deal was announced. “I know current management is also talking about a couple of transactions that if they get the right price, we’ll be supportive of.”