Tag: Nippon TV

Nippon TV Inks Content Deal With Netflix for Distribution Outside Japan

Nippon TV, owner and operator of Hulu Japan, has signed a distribution deal with Netflix affording the SVOD behemoth access to 30 of its shows outside Japan.

Content includes 2011 drama “I’m Mita,” “Your Housekeeper,” “Death Note” and “Tokyo Tarareba Girls” — the latter two based on comic book series. Beginning next month, Netflix will have access to “Mr. Hiiragi’s Homeroom,” “Your Turn to Kill” and “Life’s Punchline,” among others.

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Netflix Japan launched its streaming service in the fall of 2015. The country has helped spearhead the streamer’s Asian market penetration. The region was the Netflix largest in new subscribers (2.1 million) for the third quarter (ended Sept. 30). The service ended the period with 30 million subs.

“[Asia] is a key part of our continued growth, and now coupled with Netflix’s strength as one of the world’s leading streaming platforms, we are confident that Nippon TV’s titles will be well received by viewers in this prominent new territory for us,” Keisuke Miyata, head of program sales at international business development for Nippon TV, said in a statement.

Hulu Japan, Fox Home Entertainment Partner for Russian Zombie Series

Hulu Japan, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan and Nippon TV have partnered to distribute Russian Zombie series “The Day After ” on streaming, DVD/Blu-ray Disc and broadcast television.

Twelve episodes of the first season of the 2013 series “Vyzhit Posle” begins streaming Oct. 5, with a packaged-media release by Fox slated for Oct. 6. The series, which is considered Russia’s version of “The Walking Dead,” will be broadcast in Japan beginning Nov. 10.

The series story arc involves a drug company, attempting to create a perfect human race, releases a virus which proves to be deadly. People are dying by the thousands, but 11 young adults who wake up in a building basement with no memory of how they got there, find themselves responsible for determining the future of all mankind.

“We are thrilled to introduce our first acquisition of a Russian series to the audience in Japan,” Kazufumi Nagasawa, chief content officer at Hulu Japan, said in a statement. “We believe ‘The Day After’ has a huge potential in Japan given the popularity of ‘The Walking Dead’ and other zombie dramas here.”

Considered the second-largest home entertainment market globally (IHS Markit), Japan has slowly embraced SVOD. Hulu Japan, which was acquired from Hulu in United States by Nippon TV in 2014, has the second-largest market share in Japan, according to research firm GEM Partners.

Vyacheslav Murugov, CEO of CTC Media, which created the series, said the distribution deal helps establish Russia as a content creator.

“Our global ambitions are to create interesting TV content for people all over the world and to promote Russia as the country where content is born.This event is a huge and important step in our journey,” Murugov said.