Rakuten TV will provide a mix of its own popular channels…
Rakuten TV, the streaming platform, is partnering with TCL, a consumer electronics manufacturers, to bring more than 50 FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) channels across multiple genres, to TCL Channel, TCL’s free streaming service, available on millions of TCL smart TVs across Europe.
Rebecca Wang, Head of BD at TCL:
“We are excited about the collaboration between TCL Channel and Rakuten TV. The high-quality FAST channels include variety of genres that will surely appeal to our audience across Europe and further enhance the content ecosystem of TCL Channel, bringing a more diverse viewing experience to our users”.
The channels will include Rakuten TV’s owned and operated (O&O) channels and selected third-party channels from renewed brands. This collaboration leverages Rakuten TV’s cutting-edge ‘Enterprise Services’ technology, transforming for the first time the streaming platform also into a technical integrator that enables seamless FAST channel distribution for connected TVs (CTVs).
This strategic partnership means TCL users across Europe will soon have access to a wider variety of free, high-quality entertainment, ranging from Hollywood and European movies, kids’ content, documentaries, TV series, lifestyle and reality shows. Rakuten TV will provide a mix of its own popular channels across the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Poland, including Rakuten TV Top Movies, Rakuten TV Drama, Rakuten TV Action, and Rakuten TV Romance, among many others.
Rakuten TV will act as a technical integrator within the context of the partnership, by enabling the seamless delivery of content without the need for third-party intervention. Third party content owners can leverage this technical integrator capability by partnering with Rakuten TV Enterprise Services to launch their FAST channels on TCL Smart TVs alongside other top FAST services in Europe.
“While maintaining a successful B2C business, our team has worked hard to build the technology to create FAST channels for the most popular platforms, monetise content using SSAI, EPG scheduling and content management”
“Leveraging our 15 years of experience, today we begin distributing our strong FAST Channels offering with TCL and also open the door for third party content owners to partner with us and easily deploy their FAST Channels while maximising their monetisation potential. We look forward to working with TCL and strengthen our existing lineup of platforms on which we distribute FAST Channels.” – Sidharth Jayant, Chief Product Officer at Rakuten TV