Advanced Television

Report: Prime Video leads Japan SVoD market

October 4, 2021

Premium video streaming in Japan reached 85 billion minutes during January – August 2021, or 13 per cent of total time spent on video according to the first of a series of quarterly reports from Media Partners Asia (MPA) measuring the Japanese streaming economy.

The report, titled Japan Online Video Consumer Insights & Analytics, leverages MPA proprietary AMPD Research Platform to measure and analyse streaming media consumption across key VoD services on mobile devices.

The report indicates that the SVoD paying subscribers topped 44 million in August 2021, with Amazon Prime Video (33 per cent), Netflix (14 per cent) and Hulu Japan (6 per cent) in the lead.

Commenting on the inaugural report’s findings, MPA Executive Director Vivek Couto said: “The premium video segment in Japan is increasingly competitive. Local content is critical, as illustrated by broadcast TV-consortium owned TVer’s growth over 2020-21, while Prime Video and Netflix’s licensed anime libraries have contributed over 40 per cent of consumption on the platforms during 2021. More competition and category expansion is imminent as Disney+ expands with Star and local content in October 2021.”

Key premium video players include:

  • Amazon Prime Video leads premium video in Japan with 26 per cent share of premium video streaming minutes and more than 15 million monthly active users. Key factors behind Amazon’s lead in Japan include a large library of long-tail content, a bundled e-commerce service, satisfactory platform functionality, distribution partnerships with NTT Docomo and KDDI and competitive pricing. Local titles, particularly licensed anime, drive nearly 70 per cent of Prime Video consumption. US movies and series account for 20 per cent.
  • TVer is a TV consortium owned streaming platform leveraging deeply local FTA dramas, variety, news and sports. TVer captured 16 per cent of premium video streaming during January – August 2021.
  • AbemaTV had 11 per cent share of premium video streaming and is a freemium platform co-owned by CyberAgent and TV Asahi. Consumption is driven by sports, including Major League Baseball, original dramas, local content and live events.
  • Netflix drives 10 per cent of premium video streaming with 6 mil. paying subscribers. Licensed anime is a key consumption driver in Japan and monetised globally, attracting significant viewership across SEA and beyond. Approximately 25 per cent of Netflix consumption is driven by Korean dramas, a key competitive differentiator for Netflix, while US content drives 15 per cent. Netflix’s originals (US, Japanese and anime) drive 10 per cent of platform viewership.
  • Hulu Japan is approaching 3 million paying subscribers with growth driven by co-productions by parent company Nippon TV, original dramas and movies.

 

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