Rakuten TV takes its free channels to the US, Japan and the Middle East

Rakuten TV is taking its free channels outside Europe, with launches in the United States, Japan and the Middle East.

Chief executive Cédric Dufour laid out the plan at MIPCOM, the international television market in Cannes, on Oct. 12, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The move turns a largely European service into one organised across three more regions.

In the US, the company will start with exclusive owned-and-operated channels, meaning Rakuten TV programmes and runs them itself. The first two are Rakuten TV Comedy and Rakuten TV Action. They will be available first on the TCLtv+ app, with further platform launches to follow.

FAST is free ad-supported streaming television, meaning live-style channels that anyone can watch free with adverts. No subscription is needed. The channels simply sit inside apps viewers already have on smart TVs and streaming devices.

For viewers, this means more free choice. Comedy fans get one home. Action fans get another. Both are programmed by Rakuten TV rather than licensed to someone else to run.

In the Middle East, Rakuten TV is preparing to launch Rakuten TV Top Movies and Rakuten TV Action in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia by the end of 2026. The two channels will be carried on TCLtv+ and TCL Channel in both countries, and on LG Channels in the United Arab Emirates.

In Japan, the rollout works differently. Rakuten Group, the Tokyo-based parent company, will act as technical integrator to deliver FAST channels to its R Channels FAST platform. That means it will handle the technology that gets the channels on air.

The expansion builds on a large base in Europe. Rakuten TV currently runs more than 120 owned-and-operated channels there. In total, it runs more than 500 FAST channels across 43 territories alongside its Rakuten TV app.

Rakuten TV is owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten Group and is based in Barcelona.