Rakuten TV unifies its B2B services with Enterprise, aiming to boost transparency and simplify CTV advertising as 74% of UK marketers plan to increase spend.
Rakuten TV, one of the leading streaming platforms in Europe, today revealed findings from its new survey ‘A Clearer Picture’, exploring UK advertisers current views on media investments in CTV. The study found that 97% of marketers have concerns around transparency, while 74% plan to increase their programmatic CTV spend in the near future.
Alongside the research, Rakuten TV announced the company’s latest strategic move: a push to simplify CTV through the consolidation of its B2B division; Rakuten TV Enterprise, which represents the next phase of the company’s growth in its offer for business services.
Rakuten TV Enterprise: Connecting advertisers, content & audiences
As the ways people access and enjoy entertainment rapidly evolve, the television landscape has undergone a fundamental transformation. Behind the screen, the relationships between viewers, content creators, broadcasters, and advertisers have become increasingly complex.
As Europe’s original CTV and streaming experts, Rakuten TV created Rakuten TV Enterprise, a suite of products and services to simplify CTV and streaming for agencies & advertisers, content owners, telco, TV operators and publishers. Rakuten TV Enterprise connects advertisers, content and audiences, and offers advanced advertising solutions (CTVision+), the creation and syndication of FAST channels, multi-platform app development and management of their monetization.
Rakuten TV initially launched ‘Rakuten TV Enterprise Services’ to address the needs of content owners, and this was soon expanded to include telcos and TV operators.
The latest strategic move consolidates all of Rakuten TV’s business-facing capabilities, including advertising, under one unified ‘Rakuten TV Enterprise’ brand.
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With an emphasis on transparency, trust, and measurability, this new advertising pillar encompasses the ‘Enterprise Ad Sales’ division and will offer a streamlined, integrated approach that redefines how advertisers engage with CTV.
At the core of the Enterprise offer is CTVision+, a premium publisher collection that consolidates high-quality CTV inventory across Europe. CTVision+ delivers pan-European scale with local relevance by combining brand-safe environments, advanced audience targeting, transparent buying paths, and independent verification. It is designed to meet the needs of agencies and brands seeking simplicity in a fragmented ecosystem, enabling effective and scalable CTV campaigns with confidence.
Through this unified framework, Rakuten TV Enterprise is building a more open, accountable, and effective CTV advertising ecosystem, empowering brands to invest with greater confidence and control, while delivering better outcomes for all stakeholders.
Edouard Lauwick, SVP, Media, EMEA, Rakuten TV, commented: “The consolidation of advertising under the Rakuten TV Enterprise brand marks the kind of initiative that advertisers, publishers and content owners across Europe have been waiting for. By bringing together our combined expertise, scale, premium inventory and the best in CTV technology, we empower our partners to fully seize the opportunities created by the rapid growth of CTV.”
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‘A Clearer Picture’ Report
In order to highlight how Rakuten TV Enterprise addresses the advertising industry’s most pressing challenges, a report was commissioned to explore the topic of transparency and measurement in CTV advertising, in collaboration with Bluestripe.
Key Insights from the Report:
- Transparency and trust now outrank pricing and scale as top priorities for UK advertisers, with 97% expressing concerns around transparency and 42% identifying it as a key investment barrier.
- One third (33%) are concerned about ad fraud and viewability impacting trustworthiness.
- Only 28% of marketers are very confident that their CTV ads run in fully viewable, fraud-free environments – highlighting an urgent need for verification and fraud prevention.
- To address these issues, 31% of marketers are currently seeking “better campaign performance” from curated marketplaces. Advertisers are moving toward curated, premium environments, reflecting a shift toward quality over quantity in the media mix.
- Despite these concerns, CTV is expecting significant growth, with 74% of UK marketers planning to increase CTV ad spend over the next three years.
- More than 9 in 10 (91%) of marketers say they would increase CTV investment if full transparency into where ads run was guaranteed.
The survey results highlight clear trends: CTV growth, a strong demand for transparency, and a shift toward curated, high-quality environments.
‘Unlocking New Audiences’ Report
With the goal of leveraging its experience for simplifying and accelerating the CTV management for advertisers, Rakuten TV also released today another report on incrementality, meant as the additional or unique reach and value that CTV advertising provides beyond traditional TV and SVOD platforms.
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The Report, titled ‘Unlocking New Audiences’, which provides insights into the FAST/ AVOD market, has been released in Spain, France, Germany, and Italy and its key findings include:
- FAST/AVOD is now mainstream, with 71% of viewers tuning in weekly. Notably, 44% are unreachable via linear TV or SVOD, delivering incremental, high-value audience’s advertisers can’t access elsewhere.
- 41% of frequent AVOD/FAST viewers watch content they wouldn’t have watched on linear platforms.
- Consumers not only accept but value the ad-supported model: 78% prioritize free access to content, 76% are satisfied with current ad volumes, and 62% are happy with content quality on AVOD/FAST. This makes it a scalable, brand-safe, and effective environment for advertisers.
The findings of the two surveys demonstrate that Connected TV (CTV) is consolidating its position as an integral part of the media mix in Europe. While the convergence of advertiser ambition and consumer acceptance presents a timely opportunity, it also highlights a clear need for solutions that can bridge the gap in trust, transparency, and clarity across the ecosystem.
