Japanese SVOD Base Hits 38 Million

Prime Video leads the SVOD category in Japan as one of five platforms with a share of the country’s 38 million subscribers at the end of 2023, according to new Media Partners Asia (MPA) data.

The Japan Online Video Consumer Insights & Analytics report taps into 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 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, the broadcaster-led catch-up service, scored 20.2 million monthly average users (MAUs)  with a whopping 38 percent of premium VOD viewership. In usage it tops Prime’s 19.7 million MAUs. U-Next comes in at 8.2 million and 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 monetization, Prime is also out front at 23 percent of all subs revenue, with Netflix at 21 percent. U-Next is growing quickly, landing 30 percent of net new subscriber additions. Per MPA, is is benefiting from its acquisition of SVOD service Paravi and 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,” said 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 (Amazon) demonstrated notable customer acquisition impact.”