Wuaki.tv's CEO at ESADE: "We want to experiment with film-making and broadcast in High Definition streaming"
Jacinto Roca, the CEO and founder of Wuaki.tv and Executive Officer of Rakuten (the company that bought Wuaki.tv in 2012) explained that this year Wuaki.tv will experiment with international productions together with a partner. "It has a budget that runs into millions of Euros", said Roca at the latest session of Matins ESADE, which is sponsored by EY (formerly Ernst & Young) in collaboration with La Vanguardia newspaper.
“Producing one's own content is hard and Netflix has done a good job in this respect, said Roca. Through Rakuten, the company that currently owns the pioneering Spanish video streaming company, "Wuaki.tv will seek investment funds to create content". This is possible because Rakuten is Japan's largest Internet bank and provides digital services and entertainment as well as e-commerce.
Streaming in Ultra-High Definition
“Another step in Wuaki.tv's strategy is to launch streaming in Ultra-High Definition in the near future. This will provide greater colour contrast and the effect will be similar to what one sees in cinemas, explained Jacinto Roca. “We are working closely with Samsung and LG to pioneer the launch of Ultra HD in Europe. The launch is planned for next year. It will bring cinema-quality into people's homes, he stressed.
Even so, Roca said Smart TV was still "an immature technology". “Wuaki.tv will build a soundly-designed platform, giving it an edge over Netflix and thus further boost Wuaki.tv's gowth. In fact, Wuaki.tv is already growing faster than Netflix in The United Kingdom. The subject of piracy was also broached during the Matins ESADE talk, with Roca noting that “cinemas should re-invent themselves instead of trying to protect an outdated business model that spurs piracy and competition.
Expansion
Asked about the company's future, Wuaki.tv's CEO said "We are going to launch Wuaki.tv in other European markets such as Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Portugal and Switzerland and we do not rule out other markets beyond Europe. He also noted that thirty more people would be recruited for Wuaki.tv’s workforce and that the company's turnover has grown (between 30% and 40% of revenue comes from Spain).
Like many earlier guests at Matins ESADE, he stressed that “Regulatory changes in Europe pose a challenge because they vary from country to country, making it much harder to achieve economies of scale. Referring to this issue, he said “In Rakuten, we want to base our business where legislative restrictions are least onerous. He also explained that “Rakuten's idea is to become a leader worldwide and not just in Japan".
