Lots of Viacom Channels added to Pluto.TV

[Scott Greczkowski]

Lots of Viacom Channels have been added to Pluto.TV.

Some of the channels include:
MTV
Paramount Movie Channel
Comedy Central
Spike (Strange to see it back)
BET
CMT Westerns
Nick
Nick Jr

 

[comfortably_numb]

Free?

 

[primestar31]

Yep, just checked. All free.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

They are not the real channels, so the schedule does not match what you get on Cable or Satellite. They are custom programmed channels for Pluto.TV but with most of their popular shows. (As I type this I have Spongebob on from their NICK channel.)

 

[Tampa8]

They are not the real channels, so the schedule does not match what you get on Cable or Satellite. They are custom programmed channels for Pluto.TV but with most of their popular shows. (As I type this I have Spongebob on from their NICK channel.)

I was not aware that was a thing with streaming. Are some others like that, when I see a streaming service has this or that channel it may not be all of the actual programming of that channel available? I get many are not live streaming, more of on demand but does this mean you may not get all the programming a channel carries?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Think of it this way, why would a cable or satellite company pay to carry these channels when they are being offered for free.

These are watered down versions of the channel. Not all programs are shown, and most are really old versions of the show.

And in the case of SpikeTV well Spike TV hasn't been around for a few years in the US. (It is now the Paramount Channel)

 

[comfortably_numb]

Think of it this way, why would a cable or satellite company pay to carry these channels when they are being offered for free.

These are watered down versions of the channel. Not all programs are shown, and most are really old versions of the show.

And in the case of SpikeTV well Spike TV hasn't been around for a few years in the US. (It is now the Paramount Channel)

The channels on iGoCast (Buzzr, Rev'n, RetroTV, THIS, Antenna, etc) are all the raw satellite feeds. But of course, those aren't really cable channels per se.

 

[dfergie]

I caught some old Survivorman's with Les Stroud a few weeks back...

 

[Zookster]

I was not aware that was a thing with streaming. Are some others like that, when I see a streaming service has this or that channel it may not be all of the actual programming of that channel available? I get many are not live streaming, more of on demand but does this mean you may not get all the programming a channel carries?

Paid live TV streaming services (YouTube TV, Hulu Live TV, PS Vue, Sling, FuboTV) offer the exact same channel and programming you get on the cable or satellite TV version. And for most providers/channels, you also get login privileges for the channels TV Anywhere app.

Viacom adding these branded linear channels of old programming to Pluto TV is confusing a lot of people.

 

[Tampa8]

Paid services (YouTube TV, Hulu Live TV, PS Vue, Sling, FuboTV) offer the exact same channel and programming you get on the cable or satellite TV version. And for most providers/channels, you also get login privileges for the channels TV Anywhere app.

Viacom adding these branded linear channels of old programming to Pluto TV is confusing a lot of people.

Thanks for clarification. It does seem confusing for them to have done that.

 

[Zookster]

Part of the confusion here may stem from the Viacom channel names posted in this thread's OP. The actual channel names added to Pluto are:

MTV Pluto
Comedy Central Pluto
Paramount Movie Channel
MTV Guy Code
MTV Teen
MTV Dating
The Hills
Comedy Central Stand-Up
Man Up
Man Up Outdoors
BET Pluto
CMT Western
Nick Pluto
Nick Jr. Pluto.

The only channel that shares a name with an actual cable channel is Paramount Movie Channel. In the Pluto guide, it's clear that these are "Pluto" versions of the channel, where the name is similar (e.g., Comedy Central Pluto).

 

[harshness]

Part of the confusion here may stem from the Viacom channel names posted in this thread's OP. The actual channel names added to Pluto are:

MTV Pluto
Comedy Central Pluto
Paramount Movie Channel
MTV Guy Code
MTV Teen
MTV Dating
The Hills
Comedy Central Stand-Up
Man Up
Man Up Outdoors
BET Pluto
CMT Western
Nick Pluto
Nick Jr. Pluto

If anyone other than Viacom had pulled this, Viacom would have sued the daylights out of them. This was a horribly bad idea -- especially if most of the programming on the knock-off channels is superior to what the namesake channels are currently carrying.

Imagine the worst and Viacom will fall well below your expectations.

 

[mwdxer1]

This might be the future, with Pluto 150+ channels, XUMO with 135 channels, STIRR 40 channels, Roku Channel 26 channels. A friend years ago said that any channel that has ads should be free. If they charge for a commercial channel, then it is double dipping. These Viacom channel may not be the same as the ones on satellite/cable, but I think all of this free material is fantastic. IGoCast is another I enjoy a lot. Wish there was an app on the Roku/Fire Stick, but at least I can use the browser on the Firestick to get it without having to cast it from the chromebook or phone. I have a big dish and I went through the list of free channels, and I found the majority of what I used to watch on the big dish is somewhere on the internet. I have no idea how long the big dish will be needed. With streaming, I do not have to worry about our high winds in the Winter knocking the signal out either. Two more streaming services are coming up, the NBC Universal and Disney+. Streaming rocks!

 

[harshness]

These Viacom channel may not be the same as the ones on satellite/cable, but I think all of this free material is fantastic.

Yet sometimes the free couch comes with a full compliment of fleas and/or bedbugs and turns out not to be worth the price paid.

My time is too valuable to be wasting it on most of the Viacom content whether it is new or recycled.

 

[Bobby]

Yet sometimes the free couch comes with a full compliment of fleas and/or bedbugs and turns out not to be worth the price paid.

My time is too valuable to be wasting it on most of the Viacom content whether it is new or recycled.

and your priorities can be very different than the next person. Freedom of choice is a good thing. You can elect to watch, or not...

 

[mwdxer1]

Yet sometimes the free couch comes with a full compliment of fleas and/or bedbugs and turns out not to be worth the price paid.

My time is too valuable to be wasting it on most of the Viacom content whether it is new or recycled.

That is true, but since we do not have to pay for these channels, we can chose to have them or not. Since I am not a sports fan, Dish Network has a ton of Sports channels the customer has to pay for, if they want the largest packages, if they want them or not and I am sure that raises the price at least an extra $20 a month. ESPN alone used to be $7. I am sure it is more now. Roku/Fire TV has so many free choices. NBC, Warner, Disney+ are all coming up this year. So we are in a good situation.

 

[enjoywatchingTV]

The CNN one is the most interesting and makes no sense to me at the same time. Apparently, it's programmed from Warner Media directly, but it's advertised as just CNN. I wonder if Warner Media is offering this exclusively to Pluto. Also why is it offering it in the first place, and to Pluto exclusively: to confuse viewers and these same viewers will be less inclined to buy AT&T Watch TV or any paid platform for the real CNN.