New research puts Amazon Prime Video way ahead in Japan, but the rivalry is fierce. Disney+’s new Star general entertainment slate will increase competition even further, says Media Partners Asia.

Premium video streaming in Japan reached 85 billion minutes – 13% of total time spent on video on mobile devices – from January to August this year, according to Media Partners Asia’s (MPA) first quarterly report measuring Japan’s streaming economy.

The report, Japan Online Video Consumer Insights & Analytics, shows that eight platforms had an aggregate 87% share of premium video streaming minutes. The eight are led by Amazon Prime Video followed by local platforms – TV consortium TVer and AbemaTV. 

SVOD subscribers topped 44 million in August 2021, led by Prime Video (33%), Netflix (14%) and Hulu Japan (6%). 

Overall, Prime Video leads with 26% share of premium video streaming minutes and more than 15 million monthly active users. Local titles, particularly licensed anime, drive nearly 70% of Prime Video consumption. U.S. movies and series account for 20%. 

“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,” the report says.

TVer, which captured 16% of all premium video streaming for the first eight months of this year, leverages local free-to-air dramas, variety, news and sports. 

Freemium platform AbemaTV, owned by CyberAgent and TV Asahi,  had 11% share of premium video streaming.  Consumption is driven by sports, including Major League Baseball, original dramas, local content and live events.

Netflix drives 10% of premium video streaming with six million paying subscribers. Licensed anime is a key consumption driver. About 25% of Netflix consumption in the market is driven by Korean dramas, a key competitive differentiator for Netflix, while U.S. content drives 15%. Netflix originals (U.S., Japanese and anime) drive 10% of platform viewership.

Hulu Japan, owned by commercial broadcaster Nippon TV, is approaching three million paying subs, with growth driven by Nippon TV drama/co-productions and movies.

Commenting on the findings, MPA executive director, Vivek Couto said competition would increase even further with Disney+’s October 2021 expansion. 
Disney+ rolled out in Japan in mid-2020 and will add Star general entertainment content on 27 October this year. The Star service includes movies and TV programmes produced by Disney Television Studios (ABC Signature/20th Television), FX Productions, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures, among others. Disney has also added Japanese titles to the Star tab. 

Published in ContentAsia October 2021 Magazine