TBS Television, the subsidiary of TBS Holdings and one of the largest commercial channels in Japan, outlined its action plans for this year, which focus on non-scripted formats, and development of global projects with strategic alliances.
Mayu Sunaga, director of the global business department, recently commented that they are seeing seasonal markets as great opportunities to boost their current strategy: ‘We want to strengthen relationships with leading overseas partners of new brands’.
Among the current projects the company is working on, the reboot Takeshi’s Castle stands out, an original game show for Amazon Prime Video, which is scheduled to premiere this year.
Also the company’s franchise, Sasuke (known internationally as Ninja Warrior), is in a new version that will have the support of the UIPM (Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne). ‘In line with this, I also anticipate that new theme parks based on Ninja Warrior are being prepared, which will be added to those already open in 17 locations in the UK and USA’, added Sunaga.
Likewise, the company has already released Let’s Get Divorced, the first series in alliance with Netflix, after an agreement with the streamer last year, which included a development agreement with The Seven, its new production label. ‘With a bulget of 2.2 bn euros, The Seven is working with Akira Morii producer of the global Netflix hit Alice in Borderlands, to create content of international value’, commented the executive.
TBS Group‘s medium to long-term strategy, called “VISION2030″, which includes these recent deals, is centered around a concept they dubbed ‘edge’, which will expand the company’s digital presence. ‘A large part of this strategy will be aligned with the area of new intellectual property creation, such as a co-development project with Smart-Dog Media, the company of Craig Plestis, producer of the franchise The Masked Singer and I Can See Your Voice’. One of these projects, created by artificial intelligence, was presented at the last edition of MIPCOM Cannes, last October.
They are also working with a new company in the vertical-reading electronic comics segment, with Naver Webtoon and manga production company Shine Partners, to create webtoons and also to adapt them for TV and animation and be able to promote them globally. ‘Many of these new and existing projects can be strengthened with blockchain technologies and web3 initiative to promote and preserve powerful IP that uses the digital global, experience concept’, she concluded.
