Sports Studio has announced that its streaming platform, Free Live Sports (FLS), has secured seven new global distribution deals that will extend the platform’s reach to more than 75 million households worldwide. The new agreements include six global CTV distribution partnerships with VIDAA (including Hisense Channels), Rakuten TV, Titan OS, Whale TV, Anoki (LiveTVx) and Swift TV. Additionally, FLS has signed an agreement with 3SS, a […]

Jennifer Manner, SVP/Regulatory Affairs at AST SpaceMobile, told a Congress Committee (the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology of the Committee on Energy & Commerce) that the satellite Direct-to-Cell business would launch between 45 and 60 of its second-generation BlueBird 2 satellites during 2026. She confirmed that the satellites were under manufacture at its two factories […]

iSpot, the cross-platform TV ad measurement company, has announced the appointment of Julie Van Ullen as its new President and Chief Revenue Officer. Reporting to CEO and Founder Sean Muller, Van Ullen will oversee a range of functions critical to organisational growth — including overseeing sales, marketing and customer success, driving media partnerships and business […]

Rakuten TV, through its B2B brand Rakuten TV Enterprise, has announced distribution and technology partnership deals with Ace Entertainment, Reframed Content Studios and Shanghai Media Group. For the first time, each of these content owners will have their first dedicated Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) channels. These new channels, set to roll out during Q4, […]

Rakuten TV, the European streaming platform, has revealed findings from its survey, A Clearer Picture, exploring UK advertisers’ current views on media investments in CTV. The study found that 97 per cent of marketers have concerns around transparency, while 74 per cent plan to increase their programmatic CTV spend in the near future. In order […]

Rakuten TV has announced a push to simplify CTV through the consolidation of its B2B division into ‘Rakuten TV Enterprise’, which represents the next phase of the company’s growth in its offer for business services. As the ways people access and enjoy entertainment rapidly evolve, the television landscape has undergone a fundamental transformation. Behind the […]

AST SpaceMobile (AST), a would-be supplier of direct-to-consumer cellular telephony from space, has told the FCC that it will have 243 of its BlueBird satellites in orbit by the end of 2028. The schedule will see 100 working in orbit by the end of next year, then 72 additional craft each year until 2028. AST […]

AST SpaceMobile (AST) activated one of its first BlueBird satellites over Japan in order to make a video call with staff from cellular telco Rakuten, its partner operator in Japan. Abel Avellan, CEO at AST, commented: “Another historic first! We completed our initial activation of our first BlueBird satellites in Japan with Rakuten Mobile to […]

Virgin Media O2 has launched two new FAST channels from Rakuten, providing Virgin TV customers with the opportunity to watch an array of new content at no extra cost. Available to Virgin TV customers directly via their set-top box, the new channels – Rakuten TV Top Movies (channel 446) and Rakuten TV Action ( channel […]

At Mobile World Congress, Rakuten TV, the European streaming platform, has announced that it is positioning itself as a key enabler for telcos looking to expand their content offering in the growing FAST market. Through Rakuten TV Enterprise Services, the company provides solutions for the launch, distribution and monetisation of FAST channels. After three years […]