Rakuten TV

Last updated
Rakuten TV
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Electronic commerce
Founded2010
Founders Cédric Dufour
Headquarters
Tokyo and Barcelona
,
Japan and Catalonia
Area served
Asia: Japan
Europe: Aaland Islands, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Ukraine
Products Video on demand films and TV series, TV channels
Number of employees
200
Parent Rakuten
Website Rakuten TV

Rakuten TV is a video-on-demand (VOD) and free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) platform, providing movies and TV series for subscription, rental, and purchase as well as FAST channels with a mix of local and global content. [1] Since 2019, the platform has provided users access to different content via TVOD, AVOD, [2] SVOD, [3] and FAST. [4] It is owned by the Japanese company, Rakuten.

Contents

Rakuten TV's VOD catalogue includes content from studios around the world, including Warner Bros., Disney, and Sony Pictures, local distributors, and independent labels producing both locally and globally oriented content. Similarly, Rakuten TV's distribution of FAST channels includes both its own Rakuten curated channels as well as FAST channels and TV channels operated and curated by its partners around the world. [5] Rakuten TV's content can be streamed from most devices, offering a similar service to Netflix and other streaming services. [6] [7] [8] [9]

The company is headquartered in Tokyo and Barcelona and currently operates in Japan as well as several countries around Europe; Aaland Islands, Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Ukraine. [10]

In Japan, the video streaming service Rakuten SHOWTIME changed its name to Rakuten TV on July 1, 2017 and has been operating under the new name since then.

Rakuten also operates another global video-on-demand (VOD) streaming service called Rakuten Viki which is headquartered in San Mateo, California with additional offices in Tokyo, Japan, Seoul, South Korea, and Singapore. [11] Rakuten Viki focuses on distributing content from parts of Asia to the rest of the world. This includes drama, variety shows, and animation from Japan, Korea, Mainland China, Taiwan, and Thailand. [12]

History

In 2010, the service was launched in Spain under the name Wuaki.tv, [13] and later expanded to Andorra. By 2013, it had entered the markets in England, as well as Italy, France, and Germany later that same year. [14]

In June 2012, e-commerce company Rakuten acquired the company, previously known as Wuaki.tv. [15] In July 2017, Wuaki.tv changed its name to Rakuten TV. Rakuten took over the user base from TalkTalk TV Store (previously Blinkbox) including migration of user purchased titles, in June 2018.

Rakuten Sports

On 11 June 2019, Rakuten announced the launch of Rakuten Sports, a new live streaming and video on demand (VOD) sports entertainment platform to expand and deliver sports content to several countries around the world, after eleven countries across Europe.

In November 2019, Rakuten Sports provides the subscription streaming coverage of Davis Cup for two seasons 2019 and 2020, also as the part of main sponsorship, starting from the 2019 finals. [16]

Related Research Articles

Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting schedule, which was popular under traditional broadcast programming, instead involving newer modes of content consumption that have risen as Internet and IPTV technologies have become prominent, and culminated in the arrival of VOD and over-the-top (OTT) media services on televisions and personal computers.

Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as television series and films, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable television, and/or satellite television systems, streaming television is provided as over-the-top media (OTT), or as Internet Protocol television (IPTV). In the United States, streaming television has become "the dominant form of TV viewing."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Protocol television</span> Television transmitted over a computer network

Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live television that is streamed over the Internet (multicast) — in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable transmission formats — as well as video on demand services for watching or replaying content (unicast).

In Demand is an American cable television service which provides video on demand services, including pay-per-view. Comcast, Cox Communications, and Charter Communications jointly own In Demand.

Now is a subscription over-the-top streaming television service launched in the United Kingdom in 2012. It is operated by Sky Group in Europe, and Xfinity in the US; both owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast.

Motorsport.tv is a global streaming OTT platform specialized in motor racing and motoring content, live and on demand launched in September 2018. It is a fully integrated video ecosystem developed and operated by Motorsport Network to specifically cater to different motor racing and automotive audiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">On Demand (Sky)</span> Video on demand services from Sky UK

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sky Go</span> Online television service

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">TalkTalk TV Store</span> UK-based video-on-demand service

TalkTalk TV Store was a UK-based transactional video-on-demand (VoD) service available on Macintosh and Microsoft Windows computers, games consoles, tablet computers and Smart TVs. Content is generally streamed, with downloading currently possible on Windows PC/laptops. The blinkbox brand had been extended to companion services offering digital music and books.

Rakuten Viki is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It streams videos similar to other services, but also allows users to subtitle content available in 200 languages as well as providing original programming. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, it has offices in Singapore, Tokyo, Japan, and Seoul, South Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC First</span> International television channel owned by the BBC

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">BritBox</span> Internet media streaming and video on demand service broadcasting British TV

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sky Switzerland</span> Swiss pay-TV provider

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">NEW ID</span> South Korean digital streaming service

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References

  1. ↑ "Rakuten TV". Rakuten TV. April 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  2. ↑ "Rakuten TV teaming up with advertisers as coproduction partners". C21media. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  3. ↑ "Rakuten TV launches channels on Plex". Broadband TV News. 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  4. ↑ "Rakuten TV expands FAST channel reach". Broadband TV News. 2022-04-20. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  5. ↑ "Live Channels - Rakuten TV". Rakuten TV. April 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  6. ↑ Woods, Ben (28 May 2014). "Wuaki.Tv Is Now Available to Stream on Chromecast in the UK". The Next Web. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  7. ↑ "Wuaki.tv streaming service now available on Xbox 360, £2.99 a month for life offer still on - Pocket-lint". www.pocket-lint.com. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  8. ↑ "Wuaki.tv video service gets Android, iPad app support in UK". Engadget. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  9. ↑ "Wuaki launches new 4K smart TV app » Digital TV Europe". www.digitaltveurope.net. 5 September 2014. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  10. ↑ "Submit a request - Help Rakuten.TV". Rakuten TV Europe. April 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  11. ↑ Viki Office Tour - Coolest Places in Singapore: Episode 1 (January 28). 2014. Archived from the original on November 18, 2015. Retrieved December 3, 2015– via YouTube.
  12. ↑ "Distribution Partners - Rakuten Viki". Rakuten Viki. April 2024. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  13. ↑ "Los españoles de Wuaki.tv llevarán su servicio de streaming a tres nuevos países". Diario ABC (in Spanish). 2014-06-24. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  14. ↑ "Wuaki.tv se expandirá a Italia, Francia y Alemania este año". Europa Press. 2014-06-23. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  15. ↑ Wauters, Robin (13 June 2012). "Rakuten Acquires Spanish Video-On-Demand Company Wuaki.tv". The Next Web. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  16. ↑ "Davis Cup by Rakuten Madrid Finals to be broadcast in more than 171 countries". Davis Cup . 2019-11-07. Archived from the original on 2020-07-31. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
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