Rakuten TV, the European streaming platform, has announced the launch of new owned and operated FAST channels. The company has now over 100 O&O channels in Europe, across multiple genres, such as Film, Documentary, Series and Kids.Following the success of its branded Rakuten TV Film channels, with top Hollywood and Local movies, the company will now enter the TV Series landscape by launching a Reality/Factual Entertainment channel in the UK and Crime series channels in DACH, France, Italy and Spain.Real is available now in the UK with programming centred on Reality & Factual Entertainment shows. It will feature shows such as Worst Cooks in America, the US culinary bootcamp series; the reality show My New BFF, with the popular heiress Paris Hilton; and Undercover Boss, the Emmy-winning reality series following high-level executives going undercover as entry-level employees.The Crime channel has gone live in Italy, including British detective sensation Wallander, and Golden Globe nominated Boss starring Kelsey Grammer. The channels will roll out in more countries in the coming months.All channels will be available on the Rakuten TV platform and also on Samsung’s TV Plus service with more FAST platforms to follow.Rakuten TV CEO, Cedric Dufour, commented: “FAST and AVoD currently represent a significant portion of our business, with healthy double digit YoY growth. This is a result of both our CTV Ad Sales expertise through our sister-company Rakuten Advertising, but also due to a locally relevant and top-notch quality content being offered for free to millions of our users […] Aside from our FAST channels line-up and the Rakuten TV Originals being offered to all 43 countries in Europe, we will also continue to invest in Original productions, due to their exclusive appeal and strong engagement with new users”.
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