Rakuten TV Launches its AVOD Service in Europe
15.10.2019 11:30:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Rakuten TV, one of the leading video-on-demand platforms in Europe, today announced the launch of its first AVOD - ad-supported video-on-demand - channels within the platform. This new business model will allow viewers to watch a wide range of content for free.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191015005048/en/
Rakuten TV's new UI 4.0 including "Free" section (Photo: Rakuten TV)
The free section of Rakuten TV will launch with an initial offer including Hollywood and local content to be expanded to additionally include exclusive Rakuten content, TV series, documentary series, news and sport channels in the coming months - with a combined linear and on-demand offer.
Among the exclusive content, Rakuten TV will present on its AVOD channel Matchday - Inside FC Barcelona, the new documentary series about FC Barcelona from the inside, offering previously unseen and exclusive scenes from the players’ private lives. Narrated by John Malkovich, Matchday – Inside FC Barcelona is a creation of Barça Studios, FC Barcelona’s own production house, in collaboration with Kosmos Studios, Rakuten, Inc. in association with Rakuten H Collective Studio and Producciones del Barrio.
Expanding its business model proposition, Rakuten TV will be the first to combine TVOD and AVOD products across Europe, meeting the changing needs of viewers. The free ad-supported channels will enrich the original proposition of Rakuten TV - Your Cinema at Home - offering Smart TV viewers the best cinematic experience with the latest new releases in the best audiovisual quality. Thanks to the presence of a remote control button providing direct access to the app on major Smart TVs, Rakuten TV content will be just a click away for over 30 million households across Europe.
In a time when the streaming industry is increasingly changing and exploring avenues such as AVOD, Rakuten TV is proud to pioneer this trend in Europe as the main VOD platform combining different business models - TVOD, AVOD and SVOD - which are oriented around meeting all audience needs.
Jacinto Roca, Rakuten TV Founder and CEO, stated: “We are incredibly proud to take this step after having tripled our presence in Europe just a few months ago. Rakuten TV continues to evolve rapidly alongside consumer trends within the industry, where there is a clear trend of advertisers moving away from linear TV and towards VOD. This is a unique opportunity for Rakuten TV which has already direct access to millions of European households through its branded remote control button of the main Smart TV brands. This is the mere beginning of a huge project which will see the launch of additional channels and exclusive content in the coming months”.
The service will be available in beta version, across the complete 2019 SMART TV line up, and will be progressively rolled out in other platforms including mobile and desktop.
Advertising sales will be managed by Rakuten Marketing, a subsidiary of Rakuten Inc. Nick Stamos, Rakuten Marketing CEO, stated: “Advertisers and agencies are eager to be among the first to showcase their brands in this exclusive and groundbreaking advertising platform. As VOD is emerging as a powerful media channel, our clients have been anticipating this launch from RakutenTV, so we are very excited to bring this new proposition to market across Europe.”
Rakuten Viber, Rakuten’s instant messaging service, will also be involved in the project, leveraging its community of 2 million Barça fans to promote Matchday.
Nielsen will be the data partner (DMP-data management platform) used to target advertisements at a digital level
This news comes alongside a renewed platform design for Rakuten TV, with a more attractive look & feel, a more intuitive user interface and a simpler user journey. Within the new interface, viewers will discover the new channel offering featuring ad-supported content inside the ‘free’ section implemented within the header menu.
The announcement took place during the conference “AVOD on the Rise” at MIPCOM 2019, where Founder and CEO of Rakuten TV, Jacinto Roca, spoke about the AVOD industry and its evolution with other top players in the entertainment field.
Rakuten TV
Rakuten TV is one of the leading Video On-Demand platforms in Europe. It offers a TVOD service (Transactional VOD) providing viewers a true cinematic experience with the latest new releases in the best audiovisual quality. It also includes an AVOD (Advertising VOD) section, Rakuten TV Free, in a blend of thematic channels embracing Hollywood classics, local, exclusive and themed content, all for free.
Rakuten TV is available in 42 countries and forms part of Rakuten, Inc., one of the world’s leading internet services companies, offering a wide variety of services for consumers and businesses, with a focus on e-commerce, fintech and digital content. Rakuten, headquartered in Japan, is also known for its partnerships with FC Barcelona, the NBA, the Golden State Warriors, Davis Cup and Spartan Race.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191015005048/en/
Contact information
Media Contacts:
For further information please contact:
Premier PR – Rakuten TV
Charlie Wainwright - Premier PR on behalf of Rakuten TV
charlie.wainwright@premiercomms.com
0207 292 7372
Rakuten TV
Fabiana Cumia – Communication Director – fabiana.cumia@rakuten.com
Iraia Arza – PR & Communication Specialist – iraia.arza@rakuten.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Tecnotree allekirjoitti 17,5 miljoonan Yhdysvaltain dollarin monivuotisen sopimuksen nykyisen teleoperaattoriasiakkaan kanssa Amerikan alueella13.8.2026 15:04:00 EEST | Tiedote
Tecnotree, joka on maailmanlaajuinen 5G- ja tekoälynatiivien digitaalisten BSS-ratkaisujen sekä teleoperaattoreille suunnattujen digitaalisen transformaation ratkaisujen toimittaja, ilmoitti eilen allekirjoittaneensa uuden monivuotisen ja usean alueen kattavan sopimuksen nykyisen teleoperaattoriasiakkaan kanssa Amerikan alueella. Sopimus kuvastaa Tecnotreen jatkuvaa painotusta pitkäaikaisten asiakassuhteiden laajentamiseen yhtiön 5G- ja tekoälynatiivien digitaalisten alustojen ja palvelujen avulla, jotka auttavat teleoperaattoreita uudistamaan liiketoimintaansa, nopeuttamaan palveluinnovaatioita ja parantamaan asiakaskokemusta. Tecnotree jatkaa operaattoreiden muuttuvien digitaalisen transformaation painopisteiden tukemista maailmanlaajuisesti. ”Amerikan alue on Tecnotreelle edelleen tärkeä markkina-alue, jolla yhtiö jatkaa teleoperaattoreiden tukemista ratkaisuilla, jotka yksinkertaistavat toimintaa, mahdollistavat liiketoiminnan ketteryyden ja luovat kestävää arvoa seuraavan sukupolv
Vantage Data Centers and Nebius Expand UK AI Infrastructure with First Deployment in South Wales AI Growth Zone13.8.2026 15:00:00 EEST | Press release
Vantage Data Centers, a leading global provider of hyperscale data center campuses, and Nebius (Nasdaq: NBIS), the AI cloud company, today announced an agreement to deploy high-density, NVIDIA-powered AI infrastructure at Vantage’s CWL1 campus in Newport, Wales. The deployment represents the first announced commercial capacity commitment in the South Wales AI Growth Zone and will support growing UK demand for domestic AI compute capacity. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260813253918/en/ CWL13 data center at Vantage’s Newport, Wales, campus. Under the agreement, Nebius will lease high-density capacity at CWL1 to support AI training, inference, agentic AI and enterprise AI workloads, serving enterprises, researchers, startups and public sector organizations seeking access to advanced AI infrastructure. This capacity is part of Nebius’ broader UK expansion and commitment to scale domestic AI compute capacity. In
SBC Medical Group Holdings Reports Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results13.8.2026 13:30:00 EEST | Press release
SBC Medical Group Holdings Incorporated (Nasdaq: SBC) (“SBC Medical” or the “Company”), a Medical Services Organization (MSO) providing management support across a wide range of healthcare fields to medical institutions in Japan and abroad, today announced its consolidated financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2026 (the three months ended June 30, 2026) and the first half of fiscal year 2026 (the six months ended June 30, 2026). Second Quarter 2026 Financial Highlights Total revenues were $49 million, an increase of 13% year-over-year. Net income attributable to SBC Medical was $11 million, an increase of 335% year-over-year. Net income margin was 22%, an increase of 16 percentage points year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA1 was $20 million, an increase of 32% year-over-year. Adjusted EBITDA margin1 was 41%, an increase of 6 percentage points year-over-year. Basic EPS was $0.10 for the three months ended June 30, 2026, an increase of 400% year-over-year. The Company believ
Unimed Expands Maritime Healthcare Platform with Growing Adoption of Telemed Plus13.8.2026 12:00:00 EEST | Press release
Universal Maritime Solutions (“Unimed” or “the Company”), a leading provider of maritime healthcare, medical supply, and crew wellbeing solutions and a portfolio company of ZCG Private Equity, the private equity fund management platform of Z Capital Group, LLC (“ZCG”), today announced that Bahri, one of the Middle East’s leading maritime operators, has expanded its relationship with Unimed by enrolling in its Telemed Plus premium service. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260813787745/en/ The agreement builds on a longstanding relationship between the companies through Unimed’s MedScale medical supply and medical chest management program and marks another important milestone in the continued rollout of Unimed’s Telemed Plus platform, launched in 2024. The expansion underscores the growing adoption of Unimed’s integrated healthcare platform by leading global maritime operators while demonstrating the increasing v
The Fairest of Them All: Klarna Supercharges Memberships, Removing Fees, Boosting Cashback and Increasing Annual Value to as Much as €6,00013.8.2026 10:09:00 EEST | Press release
Klarna, the global digital bank and flexible payments provider, today unveiled its most significant membership upgrade yet. The revamped tiers deliver more cashback, up to €6,000 worth of perks, and remove service fees — built so a Klarna membership pays for itself, and then some. Klarna's improved membership lineup spans four tiers, each built for a different kind of member but all embodying a flexible ethos: pay only for the Klarna that fits your life. Pay later is free at partner stores, or get broader fee-free access with Everywhere (formerly Core), or climb to Plus, Premium or Max for richer cashback rewards, bigger, everyday perks and a growing set of subscriptions and protections. A Klarna membership is a fairer alternative to a credit card by design, and one of the biggest differences is freedom. While other cards tie you in for a year, a Klarna membership moves with you. Upgrade for a big travel month and drop back down when things are quieter, with no penalty and no year-long
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom