There is no doubt that the Asian market is experiencing growth in the content business beyond its region, driven by new narratives, technologies, and local streaming platforms that have become important pillars in the face of Western OTTs.
Last month at MIPCOM, Japanese domestic streamer Abema TV debuted its international strategy, marking its first presence at the event and the beginning of a new content era for the eight-year-old joint venture.
‘In some ways, Netflix was the inspiration for the new global push’, said Tatsuhiko Taniguchi, Abema TV’s Content Headquarters VP and Managing Executive Officer at tech/internet company CyberAgent.
The platform’s strategy is advertising-based, offering more than 25 linear channels, hybrid on-demand access, and multi-device support. Abema TV originally launched to target young audiences in Japan who weren’t (and still aren’t) watching traditional TV. The service is mostly free, with some paid features. This consumption trend has even led the platform to consider launching a vertical dedicated exclusively to younger audiences.
One of its most successful titles, Is She The Wolf, whose latest season premiered on Netflix last year, was a sensation among Asian audiences. The series, a blockbuster among Japanese women in their teens and 20s, was one of two titles announced by Abema and Netflix in February 2023. The second title was Falling in Love Like a Romantic Drama. When announcing their partnership, the platforms stated that the Abema shows for Netflix would ‘have a different look and feel from the series currently streaming on Abema’.
‘Our content was viewed by so many people on Netflix that we felt there might be possibilities for us beyond Japan’, said Taniguchi.
Another driver of the international strategy is the success of Babel Label, the production house behind The Parades, 18 x 2 Beyond Youthful Days, and Hard Days. ‘Bigger budgets and higher production values, encouraged by the globalization of entertainment content, mean greater international potential’, remarked the exec.
In addition to its ambitions in anime production, Abema has plans to expand its international pay-per-view platform, Abema Live, which is currently available in Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand. Abema Live features martial arts, anime, and YouTuber events.
The alliance between CyberAgent and TV Asahi has allowed the platform to blend its DNA with a strong focus on UI, UX, operations, production, and marketing, combined with the traditional expertise and reach of a national broadcast network.
Like Abema, Babel Label is part of the media ecosystem created by Japanese internet company CyberAgent. Abema is a joint venture between CyberAgent and free-TV broadcaster TV Asahi.
‘We fully leverage our parent company, CyberAgent, and TV Asahi, which has a strong network across Japan, enabling us to broadcast breaking news 24/7 to smartphones, for instance, in the event of an earthquake. We call our concept ‘future television’, concluded Taniguchi.
