By Victoria Ahearn

Free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service Pluto TV is adding two exclusive new channels in Canada – OUTtv Proud and Shades of Black.

As first announced at Prime Time in Ottawa on Friday morning, Pluto TV and Latino-owned entertainment company Fuse Media have secured the first North American distribution deal for OUTtv Proud, and partnered to bring Shades of Black to Pluto TV Canada.

OUTtv Proud made its worldwide debut on Pluto TV Canada on Friday. Formed through a partnership between Fuse Media and OUTtv, the FAST channel serves 2SLGBTQ+ audiences with more than 400 hours of content and original programming that’s custom-made “to entertain, advocate for and galvanize global queer audiences,” according to a news release.

Shades of Black, which will start streaming on Pluto TV Canada later this month, is a partnership between Cinedigm, Quincy Newell’s TwentyOne14 Media and Fuse Media. The channel has an exclusive collection of studio and independent films, scripted and reality series, documentaries and specials that “authentically represent global Black culture,” said the release.

In Canada, Corus Entertainment is the ad representative for Pluto TV, which launched on this side of the border on Dec. 1 and has more than 100 channels. Since its launch in Canada, “it was the most downloaded app on Android and among the top five most downloaded applications on the majority of app stores,” according to the release.

Katrina Kowalski, VP of content at Pluto TV and Paramount+ in Canada, said in a statement that the latest partnership speaks to Paramount’s “long-standing commitment to increasing diverse representation, both onscreen and off.”