Tom Ryan: The Future of FASTs in Streaming

Tom Ryan interviewed by Sean McNulty on March 8. (Todd Williamson/ January Images)

This is last in a series of conversations from NXStream Global, the March 8 summit from Advertising Week and The Ankler at UTA. The first three were with Tony Vinciquerra, Jeremy Zimmer and Rich Paul.

When Tom Ryan launched free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service Pluto TV in 2013, he defied the widely held belief that the future lay in on-demand, ad-free paid subscription services such as Netflix. Then, in 2019, he sold Pluto TV to Viacom for $340 million, becoming part of Paramount Global. “We've got the broadest possible content offering, and the broadest possible business model,” says Ryan. In conversation with Sean McNulty, Ryan, now president and CEO of Paramount Streaming, discusses the combination of Paramount’s assets with Pluto’s, now in 35 markets (8:54), the critical importance of “best of breed” partnerships around the globe for growth (16:57), and how Paramount+ added 10 million subscribers in Q4 — more than any other streamer (19:35).

For a full transcript of the conversation, click here.