iCONCERTS RAMPS UP ACTIVITIES IN ASIA WITH THE OPENING OF A NEW SUBSIDIARY IN TOKYO AND ANNOUNCES A FIRST TIME DEAL WITH JAPAN’S LARGEST MSO OPERATOR
April 11, 2013
iCONCERTS RAMPS UP ACTIVITIES IN ASIA WITH THE OPENING OF A NEW SUBSIDIARY IN TOKYO AND ANNOUNCES A FIRST TIME DEAL WITH JAPAN’S LARGEST MSO OPERATOR
iConcerts Japan Co., Ltd Signs VOD Deal With J:COM (Jupiter Telecommunications Co., Ltd)
As Swiss-basediConcerts (part of Transmedia Communications SA) continues to build momentum throughout Asia, the company is pleased to announce the opening of a subsidiary office in Tokyo (iConcerts Japan Co., Ltd) operating under the brand iConcerts Japan, and effective immediately.
In addition to this, the new subsidiary has also closed its first deal with Japanese MSO giant J:COM (Jupiter Telecommunications Co., Ltd).
iConcerts Japan is spearheaded by the newly appointed CEO, Daihei Shiohama, a Japanese music industry veteran. Previously Daihei was Board Director/Head of International Business at Index Holdings, and CEO of Index Global Rights. He also founded COMIN’SOON TV in 1997, Japan’s first entertainment/movie information satellite TV Channel. Between 1988 and 1997, he was Board Director/Executive Officer at VideoArts Music where he produced long selling classics and various special music projects. He began his career in 1981 at Pioneer LaserDisc in Japan, as Manager of Programming for both in Japan and the U.S.
iConcerts Japan has also signed its first deal and entered into an agreement with J:COM, Japan’s largest CATV company through its subsidiary Asmik Ace. This will see iConcerts embark on a CATV SVOD service, J:COM On Demand Mega Pack, along with KDDI Video Pass, an IP SVOD service for mobile and PC.
As of January 31, 2013, J:COM (Jupiter Telecommunications Co., Ltd), the largest MSO in Japan has subscribing households of 3.74 million.
“We have been investing considerably in the Asian territories as this is an incredible growth market, with demand for music programming and our services going from strength to strength. We are thrilled with the opening of this new office and deal with J:COM, and look forward to making further announcements over the coming months,” said Natalia Tsarkova, Co-Founder/Editor-in-Chief, iConcerts.
In addition to the distribution of iConcerts international version across Asia, the channel has also started investing in the production of original content featuring established and up-and-coming Asian stars. Its recent exclusive production of Taiwanese pop-diva Jolin Tsai premieres on the iConcerts TV channel and digital platforms on April 9, 2013.
iConcerts continues to expand its footprint throughout Asia, having already established its Asian headquarters in Singapore, with regional offices in Seoul and Beijing.
Already deployed as a 360 degree digital channel in Europe and the Middle East, iConcerts has actively been pursuing its cross-platform strategy, launching its HDTV channel on Measat-3D, and striking distribution agreements across Asia with CCTV in China, Echostar Dish HD service in Taiwan, Starhub and M1 in Singapore, Indovision in Indonesia, TM Net in Malaysia, KT and SK in South Korea, Tru Telecom in Thailand, as well as a long-term franchise agreement with Times of India.