Rakuten TV, one of the leading streaming platforms in Europe, has this week (Feb 22nd) launched on their FAST (free, ad-supported TV) offering the WaterBear channel. Its the first premium free linear channel dedicated to the future of our planet. The channel is now available on Rakuten TV in the UK, Ireland, Nordics and Netherlands.
WaterBear was founded in 2021 as the first interactive streaming platform dedicated to the environment, featuring powerful stories from award-winning documentaries, enlightening short films and impactful series. Its content brings the power of inspirational storytelling to today’s most critical issues to reach new audiences, educate, inspire and drive action.
Serving as a ‘one-stopshop’ for sustainability content, its offering mainly focuses on 4 key themes: Biodiversity, Climate, Circularity and Community. WaterBear has innovated a new standard for the industry, not only in how it builds scaffolding around its material, but by rethinking the format of the content itself.
While WaterBear produces and offers longer feature documentaries, it also hosts several of what its CEO calls “atomic films,” described as “short little films with big impact.”
Oliver Taprogge, WaterBear’s VP of Distribution:
“WaterBear strives to tell stories about the SDGs and to transform them from words and icons into values that people can understand and appreciate. We are thrilled to be working with Rakuten TV on the distribution of WaterBear’s FAST channel. This collaboration enables an even bigger audience to have access to WaterBear’s impact-led content. We could not think of a better synergy as the cornerstone of our growing coalition of distribution partners.”
WaterBear counts on a network of more than 90 leading nonprofits and pioneering organisations spanning all the Sustainable Development Goals, in a unique mix of land conservation groups, those working on climate solutions, social nonprofits, strategic partners and more. WaterBear amplifies their work and stories to a growing global audience, making this the first time this is all accessible in one place, for free, and now available via Rakuten TV.
