Rakuten TV has expanded its VoD service to over 30 new territories, mainly in Europe. The VOD player is available online and will also feature a dedicated button on remote controls for smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Philips and Hisense from this summer.
Rakuten TV launched initially as Wuaki.tv in Spain before rebranding last year to the name of its Japanese parent company. The service was also available in France, Germany, Italy and the UK, and is now available in many more countries, including the Nordic countries and central and Eastern Europe. The company said more countries will be added in 2020.
Rakuten CEO Jacinto Roca told Variety that the company will set up new offices, likely in Sweden and Poland, to service the new countries, which all went live 13 March after more than a year of planning and preparation. Roca said the launches are a key step on the path to becoming a "true global alternative" to the likes of Netflix and Amazon. Unlike those platforms, it is focused on transaction, rather than subscription-based video-on-demand.
In addition to a wider geographic presence, Rakuten plans to expand its 4K and 8K content, as part of the partnership with TV manufacturers. Roca said the 8K content should launch in the second half of this year.
