According to a recent survey in 2024, Japan has the majority of its population in their 70s and in their 30s and 40s who continue to consume information and entertainment from Television networks. Newspapers follow closely as the second preferred medium by the same population group, even though, this number is dwindling very fast. Although a very slow decline, Television continues to dominate as the primary source of news in Japan. However, social media and other online portals are witnessing sharp growth due to their popularity and preference among teens and young adults.
Japan started regular terrestrial television broadcasting in 1953, shaped by public broadcasting groups and forwarded by commercial players. This was followed by Cable TV in 1955 and Satellite Television in 1987. While digital broadcasting of terrestrial television was introduced in 2003, it completely overtook analogue broadcasting only in 2012. Till 2019, TV advertising was the largest medium for the advertising industry, after which, it has been slowly overtaken by internet advertising expenditure. 5G penetration and nationwide accessibility to high-speed internet have led to the popularity of SVOD (subscription video on demand) which is consuming video from across the globe, across genres based on the subscription made. So, viewers are paying only for the content that they subscribe to, unlike the digital broadcast where they have to opt for a package of channels, including the ones they don’t want. This is where Free Advertising-Supported Streaming Television or FAST is squeezing through in the media consumption industry as a cost-effective alternative to traditional cable TV and SVOD.
Easy Access, Free Content, Genre Bending
The research team at World Business Outlook took note of the significant growth experienced by the FAST service providers in Japan. It is learnt that the growth is largely attributed to the demand for better quality alternatives to traditional cable TV and cost-effective options over SVOD while keeping up with the rising demand for original content that caters to various genres and generations of audiences.
Reports suggest that the market for FAST in Japan is projected to reach USD 86.68 million in 2024 with a CAGR of 9.27 percent for 2024-2027. USD 113.10 million is the estimated market volume for the Japanese FAST sector in 2027 with 26.6 million users. In 2024, the average revenue per user (ARPU) for this market is forecasted to reach USD 3.52. Even more promising for the sector is the recent research that states that nearly 71 percent of TV viewers in Japan watch ad-supported streaming services, consuming over 2 hours a day of ad-based TV content. What makes the FAST sector even more appealing are the findings that over half of the current Japanese non-streamers are most likely to subscribe to FAST-based service. Given these growing opportunities, World Business Outlook opened the nominations for the award title of Leading FAST (Free Advertising-Supported Streaming Television) Service in Japan 2024. This hunt ended when our jury members announced Abema TV as the winner of the above title.
AbemaTV is a Japanese streaming service that was reportedly unveiled in 2015 as a fixed-rate video distribution company. The current version of the service took shape only in 2016 with some pre-released channels. AbemaTV channels stream in real-time, similar to traditional linear TV. Its premium plan members have the option to watch recordings of their favourite shows as well. Today, it broadcasts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with 25 channels across a wide variety of genres, including a 24-hour news channel, original dramas, romantic soaps, anime and live streaming and repeat telecasts of sports programs.
AbemaTV garnered huge popularity among the Japanese masses through their hit show, ‘Win 10 million Yen if you Beat Koki Kameda’. This show garnered over 14.2 million views in 2017. In the same year, another show called ‘72 Hour Honne TV’ garnered over 74 million views.
AbemaTV has become the most reputed and reliable channel among sports enthusiasts in Japan. In 2021, AbemaTV live-streamed 166 Major League Basketball games. This tradition continued on AbemaTV channel since then. It is currently, the go-to channel for the Japanese fans of the US sporting event. Similarly, in 2022, AbemaTV live-streamed all the matches of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, including the qualifiers. AbemaTV has made several key partnerships to live stream the English Premier League, Bundesliga, LaLiga, FIA Formula One World Championship, JLPA golf tournaments, Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A matches and many other global sporting events.
Exploring the ‘AI’deal path in Entertainment
In 2024, AbemaTV added an innovative feature in South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and the United States. They introduced an AI multilingual subtitle feature on Abema Live. It allows users to purchase and watch various pay-per-view content from overseas with live subtitles. Through this feature, viewers can select the language of their choice and enjoy the content with those subtitles generated through Artificial Intelligence.
AbemaTV is investing heavily in onboarding various attractive Asian entertainment such as concerts, plays, sports events, fashion shows and more to a wider global audience. AbemaTV will be incorporating several technological capabilities to improve its stable and high-quality streaming.
Article by Ujal Nair
