TBS Holdings, one of Japan’s leading media companies, formulated a plan for the promotion of its content expansion strategy called EDGE, which means: «Expand Digital, Global and Experience». The creation of this plan is to achieve the Group’s future vision, “Vision 2030”, which was announced this past May and includes three main areas: new IPs, a brand-new studio and a new digital comic platform.
EDGE states that the digital domain, the global market and experiences (the live entertainment, lifestyles and other real experiences business) are the most important areas for global expansion. The plan highlights the establishment of a new company with a 30-billion-yen (USD 265 million) content production budget to kick-start to further our global strategies, which will begin full-scale operations in March 2022 as a wholly owned subsidiary of TBS Holdings.
This new enterprise will plan, develop and produce dramas and other high quality visual content to fulfill the demand generated by global platforms. Besides working with global platforms, it will also pursue the multi-use expansion of content with its IP content as its core, including TV programs, movies, live entertainment, the license business and many other businesses. Lastly, it will function as the core of our pursuit of a strong IP portfolio which starts with content and goes beyond the standard practices of terrestrial broadcasting.
TBS will build a new studio living up to global standards on it own Midoriyama Studio City. It will be one of the largest of its kind in Japan, and will be completed by March 2023. The new facility will be part of TBS’s new infrastructure for globally expanding its content. In pursuit of world-class quality, the new studio will be capable of recording 4K HDR and other high-definition image standards and 5.1-ch surround sound. Photovoltaic power generation panels will be installed on the roof of the new studio as part of our commitment to the SDGs.
Lastly, Japanese leading media company also announced as part of EDGE, Manga Box, a new digital comic platform. It will become our consolidated subsidiary in the 3Q as it grows more likely to generate the IP seeds for creating the content which will be the starting point for the development of our IP portfolio.
Tatsuo Sugai, Board Director,TBS Holdings remarked: ‘I am thrilled that we now have the foundation to create content that people around the world can enjoy. With a new production company, high-spec studios and a subsidiary manga platform, we will further accelerate the production of quality content originating from Japan, such as dramas, animations and variety, and create moments of joy for people across the world’.
