Rakuten TV Boss Talks FAST Channels, Streamer ‘Frenemies’
variety.comK.J. Yossman Rakuten TV CEO Cedric Dufour is a relative newcomer to the entertainment industry, having previously worked as Rakuten’s e-commerce managing director for Europe.
But Dufour has settled quickly into his new post since taking it up eighteen months ago, ascertaining the lay of the land as well as its inherent contradictions. “What I noticed is that, for example, the studios, which used to be our main partners, [are] also our competitors,” he tells Variety. “Because they all have their own platforms.
The manufacturers also – Samsung, which is one of our big partner, is also a competitor, especially on Samsung TV Plus, because our channels are competing against their channels.
So we really need to understand in this world of frenemies what is our position, what is our added value, and we need to anticipate what will be the evolution of the market to see how we need to position ourselves in this market.” Unlike many of the company’s competitors, who are chasing original and exclusive content to lure in new subscribers, Dufour’s watchword is “quality.” Rakuten TV already offers TVOD and AVOD and its latest venture, unveiled last month, is the launch of two new FAST channels, one for reality/factual and the other for crime. “We want to build a trustworthy brand so that when people go to the Rakuten TV channel, they know that they will find good content, relevant content,” he says of the new FAST channels. “It’s the case for our own channel, but also with third party channels that we are distributing on our platform.” Read on for Dufour’s take on the industry pivot to FAST, Rakuten’s USP and the future of streaming. Do you feel like the market for FAST is getting saturated? Not yet.
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