Report: Prime Video leads Japan SVoD market
February 6, 2024
Prime Video is the leading SVoD service in Japan as one of five platforms with a share of the country’s 38 million subscribers at the end of 2023, according to a report Media Partners Asia (MPA) data. Prime Video is way out in front with 18.6 million subscribers; followed by Netflix at 8.1 million, U-Next at 4.2 million, and at Disney+ 3.8 million.
The Japan Online Video Consumer Insights & Analytics report using intel from MPA’s data analytics company AMPD. It found that Prime Video, Netflix, U-Next, Disney+ and Hulu Japan generated a cumulative $3.3 billion (€3.07bn) in subscription revenue in 2023. Overall, Japan’s premium VoD category generated over 100 billion minutes in viewership and $4.5 billion in subscription revenue in 2023.
In the AVoD space, Tver scored 20.2 million monthly average users (MAUs) with 38 per cent of premium VoD viewership. In usage it beat Prime Video’s 19.7 million MAUs. U-Next was second at 8.2 million, followed by Netflix at 7.5 million. Tver also leads in engagement – 8.8 hours per user per quarter – followed by Netflix at 7.3 hours.
In monetisation, Prime Video also led at 23 per cent of all subscriber revenue, with Netflix at 21 per cent.
U-Next took 30 per cent of net new subscriber additions. as it reaps the benefit of its acquisition of SVoD service Paravi and provides a robust anime, local TV and sports offering.
“Japanese anime, live-action dramas and variety content represented 65 percent of viewership in the premium VoD category and contributed over 50 percent of customer acquisition in the SVoD category in 2023,” commented Dhivya T, lead analyst at ampd. “Licensed local dramas are important engagement drivers for Tver, U-Next and Hulu Japan, where TV hits have a second-life, while original dramas and variety have had clear acquisition impact on Netflix (Love Village, First Love) and Prime Video (The Bachelor). In addition, anime remains a core pillar of SVoD viewership, with all major SVoD services offering large, non-exclusive and current anime libraries. Exclusive anime such as One Piece Film: Red [Prime Video – pictured] demonstrated notable customer acquisition impact.”