RAI relaunches OTT platform
November 5, 2019
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Italian public broadcaster RAI has relaunched its video streaming platform RaiPlay to compete more effectively with OTT players like Netflix, Sky Go and Mediaset Play.
The new RaiPlay service features a modern interface, new functions and improved content offerings – both live and on demand. RaiPlay’s library will be expanded with exclusive international acquisitions, movies, TV series, documentaries, archive programmes, sports and cartoons.
RAI has signed a contract with CDN supplier Akamai, also used by rival broadcasters such as Sky Italia and Mediaset, to facilitate the distribution of multimedia content and offer viewers a fluid and quality video streaming experience with minimum delay,
Launched in 2016 to substitute Rai.tv, RaiPlay now has 12.5 million registered users, while the dedicated app has been downloaded 12.4 million times. In the period January-September 2019, 488 million videos were viewed, or 75 per cent more year-on-year, for a total of 200 million viewing hours.
Significantly, 36 per cent of accesses was from PCs, 33 per cent from smartphones and only 10 per cent from Smart TVs, although this mode of viewing has seen the highest growth (+93% year-on-year).