Rakuten TV is preparing for audience measurement in Italia from 2027
Thanks to the growth of its B2B division, Rakuten TV is expanding its range of Fast channels for businesses beyond European borders for the first time: to the US, the Middle East and Japan
From 2027, Rakuten TV may also be able to measure the audience figures for its channels in Italia. It already does so in the UK, where it has joined the BARB audience measurement scheme, and this move could now be replicated in Italia.
This was confirmed to Il Sole 24 Ore by the CEO of Rakuten TV, Cédric Dufour, on the day the streaming platform announced at Mipcom in Cannes – the international media and content market – the international expansion of its Fast services aimed at businesses, with the gradual roll-out of its offering in new strategic markets: the United States, the Middle East and Japan.
Green light for audience measurement
And measurement is a step that the platform considers essential to competing in the advertising market: advertisers are demanding verifiable data and want to know the return on their investment. Dufour has no doubts: ‘We will roll out measurement in every country over the coming months.’ When asked about the timeline for Italia, he adds: ‘I think it will be in 2027. Simply having a product isn’t enough. We need to measure traffic and provide insights and data to advertisers. They want to be sure that, when they invest 100, they get a good return. We need to demonstrate the results of the campaigns – results that we know are of immense value.’
The challenge facing Fast channels
The battle centres on the growth of connected TV and ‘Fast’ channels – the free, linear channels funded by advertising. “Advertisers are shifting their budgets from traditional television to connected TV,” says Dufour. “With streaming, they can deliver much more targeted advertising.” Competition comes both from the major streaming services – Netflix, Prime Video, Disney and Pluto TV – and from traditional television. “We’re smaller than the major operators. We try to be more agile, more responsive and to launch new features more quickly.”
Expansion beyond Europe
It is in this market that Rakuten TV Enterprise, the group’s B2B division, is launching its expansion beyond Europe. The announcement made by Dufour at Mipcom in Cannes involves two distinct activities: the licensing of Fast channels in the United States and the Middle East, and technical integration in Japan. It is not, therefore, the launch of the same app in three new countries: Enterprise offers technology, infrastructure and services to platforms and content owners.
