number one pluto tv is owned by viacom cbs pluto tv is a free streaming service with
a massive library of on-demand content plus some live tv hundreds of live and genre-based channels
150 000 hours of content more than 400 global content partners viacom cbs took over pluto
tv back in 2019 and that explains why you see content like this this and this on the service
michael here and if i were cutting the cord all over again pluto tv would probably be the first
free app that i download take a look here pluto tv is the free tv favorite in this poll of my youtube
community it's preferred over the roku channel tubi peacock and imdb tv in our video today the
pros and cons of pluto tv let's get right back to it and we pick up with number two you don't even
need to sign up for pluto tv you heard that right you don't have to hand over a credit card or even
your email address to stream everything on pluto tv and i'm going to prove it to you i opened an
incognito web browser and went to pluto.tv you see the logo and the tagline drop in watch free
and just like that i'm taken directly to content in the upper right corner of the screen you see
that i am not logged in but there is a prompt to sign up for additional features yes it's optional
but i'm gonna explain why you may want to sign up a little later on right now number three a
cable-like live guide check out the live tv guide look familiar if you're in the habit of scrolling
through a guide for content to watch you'll be scrolling for a long time with pluto tv there
are hundreds of channels and sure some of them are live channels but many of these channels are not
live and they are not the ones that you get with cable tv so this is probably not a replacement for
your cable satellite or live tv streaming service pluto tv has genre-based channels for game shows
reality shows true crime shows cooking shows kid shows and they play recorded content 24 7. you
can sort through the channels right here from the left navigation and when you favorite a channel
it'll be displayed at the top of your guide plus scroll to the right on select devices like a roku
to see four hours ahead in the guide number four content strengths and weaknesses there is a lot
to choose from with pluto tv and not just from the live guide but also the on-demand library
pluto tv is not an original content hub though and much of the content is older here's something
relatively new the cbs selects category i'm highlighting this because you will notice
a lot of content from viacom cbs properties more content highlights twilight is the most
popular movie as of this recording cops gunsmoke and matlock are the top tv series and the news
and opinion category features headlines from cbs news nbc news now weather nation and more sports
content is very thin you're going to need a paid service for the best sports coverage but there is
a surprising amount of kid shows from nickelodeon plus the music category has channels organized by
genre and decade if you just want some background noise i really like this category i know your next
question commercials whether you watch live tv or on demand there are ads with pluto tv how bad are
they i'll answer that right now number five the ad situation half the ads of broadcast tv that's what
i've come to expect from pluto tv and really most of the other free services but i wanted to verify
it i watched an episode of hotel hell although the content is only 43 minutes this is a show that
would typically fill an hour-long slot on regular broadcast tv so on broadcast tv you're looking at
about 17 minutes of ads here's the experience on pluto break one five ads two minutes break two
another five ads two minutes again break three six adds two minutes and 30 seconds break four
three adds only one minute and 15 seconds and break five five adds two minutes again the total
24 adds and nine minutes and 45 seconds with pluto tv that is a whole lot less than the 17 minutes of
ads you'd watch on broadcast tv but i did notice a few repetitive ads as well as a lot of promos
for cbs and paramount plus leave a comment below i want to know your experience with pluto tv's ads
moving on to number six there is no dvr with pluto tv when you're watching one of pluto tv's
live feeds there's no cloud dvr like with any of the paid live tv streaming services but the great
thing about the on-demand content is that it's all right there so there's no need to record it
and when you are watching on-demand content there are playback controls so you can pause the program
and step away for a minute plus you can rewind fast forward or choose to watch from the start
we're already up to number seven and there are more features if you sign up as i mentioned
earlier signing up is optional but there are benefits and mostly it is so that you can sync
your favorites and watch list across multiple devices you will need to provide your email
birth year and first name when you sign up so why don't i show you some of these features from the
live guide click on any channel arrow down and to the right and then you can select the heart once
the channel is favorited it'll appear at the top of your live guide i'm in the on demand section
now and when you select a program here you'll have the option to add it to your watch list and pluto
says any title that you watch for more than one minute will be added to continue watching i've had
mixed results with this though if you've got kids or grandkids this is helpful from the settings
switch to kids mode as long as you've signed up for an account number eight access pluto tv
from all of your devices i've been using a roku device to stream pluto tv to my tv set but there
are other supported devices for tv you see them here plus access pluto tv from the mobile app
or a web browser at any time number nine pluto tv alternatives back to the poll that i showed you
at the top of the video it includes some of the pluto tv alternatives now i think these services
are worth considering in addition to pluto not really instead of pluto the reason is that
several of them are leaning heavily into original programming to stand out in a really crowded field
and that's not what pluto tv has done so far pluto tv is an aggregator all of these other services
are free but there's some fine print with peacock some content is behind a paywall because in
addition to the free tier peacock offers paid plans as well number 10 who is pluto tv best
for now that i've laid out the pros and cons of pluto tv who exactly is this service best for
well here's how i see it people who've cut the cord and still want the cable tv feel
including options for live tv cord cutters who are trying to cut back on paid services and don't
mind ads people who want to rediscover classic tv shows and are okay with reduced picture and
sound quality at times and anyone who uses their tv as background noise and would prefer not to
pay for background noise i've tracked down some stats from viacom cbs's website that said as of
a few years ago most pluto tv users don't have cable or satellite but they do use paid services
namely netflix pluto tv may not be a netflix replacement for most people but it could be a
free substitute for your second third or fourth paid streaming service and that could save you
a little bit of money if you use pluto tv instead you just got to get in there and discover what's
most interesting to you thanks for watching and by the way if you want to save money beyond streaming
check out my second channel michael says plus i'll see you over there or back here next time