Nippon Sets Up Digital Arm

TOKYO: Following on its acquisition of Hulu's operations in Japan, Nippon TV has formed a new digital division, Cyber Business Strategy (CBS), to integrate its TV and Internet businesses.

CBS is being led by Hiroyuki Oho, currently the chairman of Hulu Japan and divisional president of CBS. The new unit will work to speed up the commercialization of the company's Internet-related businesses, in an effort to make this a significant source of income for Nippon. Hulu and JoinTV are part of the new division, which will also work to fully leverage second-screen technology and data broadcasting to support programming.

“As part of this new division, we are looking to expand our Internet-related businesses to include venture investments and M&A, as well as to foster relationships and develop a completely new business that integrates TV and the Internet,” commented Oho. “We also plan to bring together companies and students to create a laboratory that becomes a center for business development while strengthening our focus on monetization and further supporting our ad sales division.”