Japan’s WOWOW Reorganizes Management Structure

TOKYO: The Japanese premium pay-TV broadcaster WOWOW has implemented a new organizational structure by splitting its production and programming department into two separate divisions.

The production division will be led by Eiji Omura, who will oversee the various production sub-departments categorized into movies, sports, drama and music. The programming unit, which includes WOWOW’s Los Angeles ofice, will be overseen by Tsutomu Makino, who recently joined the company from NHK. Kayo Washio heads up the company’s L.A. office.

The company’s promotion departments have been brought into the sales division, led by Masanori Gunji. WOWOW’s marketing department will be run by Hitoshi Yamamoto, who has been running WOWOW’s digital department and will continue to do so.

Nobuya Wazaki, WOWOW’s president, commented, “To continue meeting the demands of customers and drive new membership to WOWOW, we are lifting the organizational power of pay television as a whole by making marketing a core activity within each sales department and allowing our programming and production divisions to operate separately—but with much cooperation and interaction.”