Rakuten TV has signed up to official UK television audience measurement body Barb, becoming the latest streaming platform to adopt industry-standard audience verification as competition intensifies in the FAST and AVOD market.
The move, which takes effect immediately, means audiences for the European streaming platform will now be measured using the same methodology applied to broadcasters and major streaming services including Netflix and ITVX.
Rakuten TV said the decision reflects growing demand from advertisers for consistent and comparable audience data across linear television and streaming platforms.
Initial Barb figures for weeks two to five of 2026 showed Rakuten TV reaching around 2 million individuals in the UK, positioning it among the larger hybrid FAST platforms in the market.
The company said Barb measurement would provide advertisers with clearer visibility of incremental reach, particularly among younger and harder-to-reach audiences increasingly absent from traditional broadcast viewing.
According to Rakuten TV, 54.6% of its viewers are not present on any other FAST platform, while 11% did not watch content from BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4 or Channel 5 during the same four-week period. Among 16–24-year-olds the figure rises to 27%.
Rakuten TV Enterprise VP Global Ad Strategy & Partnerships Stuart Keith said: “Partnering with Barb is an active choice to be fully transparent with the market. In an increasingly fragmented TV environment, advertisers require clarity and consistency.”
He added: “As FAST continues to grow within the mainstream TV ecosystem, standardised measurement is key to unlocking its full value for advertisers.”
Rakuten TV operates in more than 43 European territories and says it reaches over 150 million households. The platform has increasingly focused on FAST and ad-supported streaming as broadcasters and advertisers shift spending towards connected TV environments.
The move also highlights the growing importance of standardised measurement in the FAST sector as platforms seek greater legitimacy with media buyers and agencies competing against traditional broadcasters and established BVOD services.
