Pluto TV is in the process of deploying a significant technical and design update that places its free ad-supported streaming service on the same underlying application foundation as Paramount+. The change, long planned as part of Paramount Skydance’s broader streaming infrastructure merger to use the same app for both services, keeps the two services as distinct offerings with separate logos, branding, and content libraries while enabling shared development, recommendation systems, data pipelines, and advertising technology.
Here is what the new app looks like:
The most immediately noticeable difference for many users is the relocation of primary navigation menus. The traditional left-side vertical menu structure that long characterized Pluto TV has been shifted to a horizontal arrangement along the top of the screen. This top navigation presents clearer category access, including dedicated sections for Live TV, Movies, and TV Shows, allowing viewers to move more directly between linear channels and on-demand titles. The redesign reduces the previous emphasis on a live-first electronic program guide as the default landing experience and elevates content discovery features that mirror approaches common on subscription platforms.
This interface evolution is the visible layer of a deeper backend unification. Paramount had operated Paramount+, Pluto TV, and related services on separate technology stacks and cloud environments with limited connectivity. That separation created duplicated systems for recommendations, advertising measurement, and data handling. By migrating Pluto TV onto the shared application base already used by Paramount+, the company aims to streamline engineering resources so that improvements developed once can apply across both services, improve personalization accuracy, and strengthen advertising capabilities through more consistent audience insights and inventory management. Logos and available content remain different,…