Free video streaming service Pluto TV has announced a partnership with TP Vision, the company that owns the Philips TV brand, to bring its platform to the Dutch company’s premium TV models.
The partnership will see Pluto TV’s FAST service launch on the Philips Smart TV platform across Europe and Latin America, meaning it will come to its high-end OLED and Mini-LED TV models.
Pluto TV is a streaming service similar to YouTube TV and Sling TV that provides access to hundreds of live TV channels. So it’s not a selection of movies and series that can be watched ad hoc like Netflix. Rather, you simply switch on the channel and watch whatever it happens to be showing at that time.
The greatest thing about Pluto TV, for many people anyway, is that it’s entirely free. The service is ad-supported, so it doesn’t cost anything, but you will have to sit through regular commercials, which could be tough for those who are used to never seeing them on platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
In terms of its content, Pluto TV offers access to more than 250 live channels, similar to traditional cable TV offerings. The channels are organized across various sections, such as Featured, Movies, Entertainment, Sports, Comedy, Kids and Classic TV. There is also a selection of on-demand TV shows and movies, but the catalogue may be a bit substandard for some people’s tastes.
Pluto TVs’ deal with TP Vision covers 25 countries across Europe and Latin America, including the U.K. and Ireland. Philips TV owners in those countries will now be able to access Pluto TVs’ entire selection of channels.
Pluto TV said its app is available now on all Philips 2023 TV models, including the highly-rated Philips OLED+937 that features a built-in Bowers & Wilkins speaker bar that provides better audio quality than most high-end soundbars. It’s also available on the Philips OLED+908 & step-down Philips OLED808 models, which were the first models to feature MediaTek’s latest Pentonic 1000 chipset and, with that, support 4K 120Hz Dolby Vision gaming.
The company’s app will also come to most of Philips’ 2021 and 2022 TV models via an over-the-air update in the coming weeks, it said in a press release. Those include the impressive Philips OLED+907 and Philips 806 4K OLED TVs.
Pluto TV’s executive vice president and international general manager Olivier Jollet said the company is “thrilled” to partner with TP Vision. “This deal is a great opportunity to bring Pluto TV to an increasingly large audience, and a testament of our commitment to building strong partnerships that make our service accessible to audiences worldwide,” he said.
TP Vision’s Europe and Americas CEO Kostas Vouzas said that the company has spent significant resources in developing its smart TV platform, with a strong focus on providing easy access to the best content sources from both subscription-based and free platforms. “Partnering with Pluto TV represents a clear advance to our offering and brings a huge increase in content to a very large potential audience,” he said. “Pluto TV will play a central role in ensuring that our customers enjoy a truly enhanced viewing experience.”
Check out our review of Philips' flagship OLED+937 TV for more details:
