Pluto TV Hires Hulu Alum Valerie Kaplan as Head of Consumer Marketing (EXCLUSIVE)

Paramount Globals Pluto TV recruited Valerie Kaplan, who hails from Hulu, the Chernin Group and HBO, to lead global consumer marketing for the free, ad-supported streaming TV service.

Kaplan joins the company as global senior VP, head of consumer marketing for Pluto TV. She most recently was operating partner at Peter Chernins investment firm the Chernin Group. Prior to that, Kaplan served as the first chief marketing officer for Headspace, a mindfulness and meditation app. She previously was at Hulu for three and a half years, most recently as VP of growth marketing where she led marketing across the full subscriber lifecycle, including media, acquisition, lifecycle, partner and product marketing.

Kaplan reports to Domenic DiMeglio, EVP and chief marketing officer of Paramount Streaming overseeing both Pluto TV and Paramount+.

Based in Los Angeles, Kaplan will head up Pluto TVs growth, brand, content and partnership marketing functions. Pluto TV VP of growth marketing Meg Choi and Serge Gojkovich, VP of content and partnerships marketing, will report to Kaplan. In the role, Kaplan will collaborate with Paramount Streamings Terry Minogue, EVP of creative marketing; Debbie Beiter, SVP, marketing production and operations; and Zeynep Zileli, VP, creative marketing.

Earlier in her career, Kaplan worked at HBO and business consulting firm Simon-Kucher Partners. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelors degree in economics and literature from Duke University.

Paramount touts Pluto TVs as the largest free streaming TV business in the industry. In the fourth quarter of 2022, according to the company, Pluto TV gained 6.5 million global monthly active users (MAUs) to reach 78.5 million (versus 64.4 million a year prior). Pluto TV generated $1.1 billion in revenue for 2022, up 5% year over year.

Viacom, which merged with CBS to form Paramount Global, had acquired Pluto TV in 2019.