Advertise

Rich Calacci, Pluto TV’s first chief revenue officer, says his priority is crystal clear as he settles into the new job – create awareness among major brands and ad buyers of the business opportunities that’s now available via the free, linear-style OTT service.  

RELATED: Pluto TV Hires Chief Revenue Officer 

“My number one priority is getting that story to market, not only to get more people on the platform, which I think will happen organically, but to make sure that advertisers are aware of the business opportunities at Pluto TV,” said Calacci, who previously held the same title at Turner-owned Bleacher Report, and had also served as SVP of Turner Sports. 

Pluto TV is not yet broadcasting to the entire world precisely what that story is today, in terms of usage. In Q4 2016, the service said it had crossed 5 million monthly active users, with Pluto TV CEO Tom Ryan telling Multichannel News last May that Pluto TV is “way north of that now.”  

In the “old days” (circa 2010 in this context), an OTT service had to tout a reach of at least 1 million to 2 million people, Calacci said. “That ante’s been quintupled.”  

Pluto TV, which has been expanding its lineup and content partners, delivers more than 100 free, ad-based content channels on several platforms, including Roku players, web browsers, Android TV devices and PlayStation and Xbox consoles, among others. 

​Calacci believes that Pluto TV and its curated, linear-style approach using a blend of content from the digital-only and traditional TV worlds can fulfill an important need for advertisers as traditional TV audience