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U-Next
Japanese streaming service From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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U-Next (ユーネクスト, Yū-Nekusuto; often stylized as U-NEXT) is a Japanese over-the-top streaming service. It is majority-owned by U-Next Holdings and minority-owned by TBS Holdings and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners. It was launched in 2007 as GyaO Next and is a large streaming platforms in Japan, with 4.3 million registered subscribers as of May 2024[ref]. The service includes not only videos but also e-book services. U-Next was the second highest-grossing subscription video service in Japan as of 2022.[1]
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Launched as GyaO Next
In June 2006, Usen began a project to investigate the possibility of watching GyaO, an advertising-supported video on demand (AVOD) service for PCs owned by the company, on television. GyaO, which was later operated by Yahoo! Japan and terminated its services in 2023, was one of the most influential platforms in Japan's online video distribution market at the time.
On February 1, 2007, Usen started selling GyaO Plus, a set-top box that allowed users to watch GyaO on their televisions. At the time, the set-top box had internet connectivity, but could only be used to watch GyaO.[2]
On June 1, 2007, GyaO Next, a pay-per-view video distribution service using GyaO Plus, was launched. Unlike GyaO, which was available for free, GyaO Next cost 3,900 yen to 4,950 yen per month in addition to the initial cost and the set-top box fee (rental or purchase).[3][4] GyaO refreshes its catalog every 10 days to 2 weeks, while GyaO Next is an archive. As a result, there was little overlap between the two services in terms of user base."[5]
In June 2008, the price was reduced from ¥3,900/month to ¥2,980/month with the same content plus additional content such as all professional baseball games of the Pacific League and a number of karaoke songs.[6]
On April 7, 2009, Yahoo! Japan announced that it would acquire 51% of the shares of GyaO, which had been a wholly owned subsidiary of Usen, from Usen for 529 million yen, making it a subsidiary. The acquisition was aimed at building the largest video platform in Japan by integrating it with Yahoo! Video, which is owned by Yahoo! Japan. GyaO Next, however, was not part of the deal.[7][8]
Renamed as U-Next
On December 1, 2009, GyaO Next was renamed U-Next. The "U" includes the meanings of "United" and "Universe" as well as Usen. This business was transferred from Usen to its subsidiary U-Next Co., Ltd. in December 2010. U-Next Co., Ltd. was spun off from Usen as a private company of Yasuhide Uno, who was the president of Usen.[9][10]
In April 2009, the service began offering music broadcasting (Usen on Flet's) from Usen, a cable broadcasting service. And in September 2009, the number of subscribers exceeded 100,000. As of November 2009, the service included approximately 25,000 videos (including 12,000 PPV videos), 15,000 karaoke videos, 9 channels, and 504 Usen music broadcast channels.[9] As of July 2010, more than 50,000 titles had been distributed, including terrestrial broadcast dramas and missed anime broadcasts.[11] U-Next was available by July 2010 on select models of Sony's Bravia, Sharp's Aquos, Toshiba's Regza, Hitachi's Wooo, Panasonic's Viera, and LG's Smart TV.[11][12]
In November 2013, the company announced a content partnership with 20th Century Fox to distribute more than 150 films.[13]
In 2014, the service supported streaming by the iPhone, iPad, Android phones/tablets, AirPlay, and Chromecast. The following year, Dolby Audio (Dolby Digital Plus) was adopted to deliver 7.1 channels.[14]
The e-book service was launched in April 2014 with the BookPlace for U-Next app and integrated with the video service in 2019. Also in the same year, U-Next partnered with theater chain T-Joy to allow movie tickets to be purchased by U-Next points; in 2016, it formed similar partnerships with Shochiku Multiplex Theaters and United Cinemas; and in 2017, with Tokyu Recreation. In 2022, they also partnered with Toho Cinemas, the only remaining major theater chain.[15]
On December 16, 2014, U-Next was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers.[16] In 2015, the company changed its listing to the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.[17]
In February 2017, U-Next announced that it would conduct a tender offer for shares of Usen and integrate its operations. The company shifted to a holding company structure, with each business of U-Next and Usen placed as subsidiaries under the umbrella of the holding company Usen-Next Holdings.[18][19]
In July 2020, U-Next acquired the anime-focused video streaming service Anime Hōdai through absorption-type split from SoftBank for 2.5 billion yen. Meanwhile, U-Next had been operating Anime Hōdai since 2015 before the acquisition.[20]
In 2020, it was announced that the service had surpassed 2 million members as of August.[21]
In March 2021, U-Next announced a partnership with WarnerMedia to exclusively distribute 199 HBO and HBO Max original productions in Japan by 2023.[22][23] The company also announced plans to further strengthen its partnership agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery by distributing 332 of those productions in 2023.[23][24]
According to a survey by Gem Partners, the market share of Japan's subscription-based video streaming services based on revenue in 2022 shows that U-Next, which ranked third the previous year, has overtaken Amazon Prime Video with a share of 12.6%, making it the second-largest player behind Netflix, which holds a 22.3% market share.[25]
Merger with Paravi
On February 17, 2023, U-Next announced its merger with Premium Platform Japan, which operates the subscription video streaming service Paravi with 0.85 million subscribers and is owned by TBS Television and TV Tokyo. The merger will take effect on March 31, with U-Next being the surviving company. On the same day, U-Next also announced business partnerships with TBS Holdings, TBS Television, and TV Tokyo to establish collaborative content procurement and mass-market promotion. Additionally, U-Next entered into business partnerships with Dentsu and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners to utilize the video distribution platform for advertising and other related businesses.[26] On March 31, the merger was completed, and the following day, TBS Holdings and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, acquired U-Next's shares.[26]
On March 3, Yasuharu Uno, the President of Usen-Next Holdings, expressed his desire to increase U-Next's subscribers to 10 million and stated that he wants to "surpass Netflix." He mentioned that he hopes to reach this goal "in 5 to 10 years." He also stated, "Strong companies are those that compete globally. We want to cooperate with other domestic players," indicating that the company will explore possibilities for collaboration with other companies in the future.[27]
On June 29, U-Next announced that it had conducted a third-party allotment of shares to TBS Holdings, raising approximately 24.3 billion yen in funding. This resulted in TBS Holdings' ownership stake increasing from 2.25% to 20%, and U-Next became an equity method affiliate company of TBS Holdings.[28]
On June 30, the integration of Paravi into U-Next was completed. As a result, approximately 10,000 drama series and variety programs owned by Paravi, including those from TBS and TV Tokyo, became available for viewing on U-Next.[29][30][26] As a result, with the combined figures, the total revenue exceeded 800 billion yen, there were 3.7 million paid subscribers, and a library of 350,000 titles. This positioned the merged service as the second-largest video streaming service in the Japanese market, following Netflix, in terms of total revenue, paid subscribers, and title count.[31][32]
Expansion of sports content
Starting from April 2023, U-Next has signed a multi-year domestic distribution partnership agreement with Ultimate Fighting Championship. They have announced that they will live stream all UFC events, including UFC Number Series, UFC Fight Night, and Road to UFC.[33]
On June 21, 2023, U-Next announced a fundamental partnership agreement with Spanish La Liga until the 2027-28 season. Starting from the 2023-24 season, U-Next is exclusively livestream all matches of La Liga, as well as the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España, within Japan.[34][35]
On July 23, 2024, U-Next announced a fundamental partnership agreement with the English Premier League until the 2030-31 season. Starting from the 2024-25 season, U-Next is exclusively livestream all matches of the league, as well as the FA Cup, within Japan. On August 9, they launched the U-Next Soccer Pack, which costs an additional ¥2,600 per month and allows viewers to watch all Premier League and La Liga matches. They also made it possible to subscribe to the Soccer Pack independently.[36]
In September 2024, U-Next announced a partnership agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery to offer the streaming service Max within U-Next. All HBO and Max original movies and series are exclusively distributed in Japan. Additionally, it was decided that Japanese programing will be distributed worldwide through Max.[37]
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Programming
U-Next licenses content from a variety of major distributors, including Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal, Paramount Global, TBS Television, and TV Tokyo. Additionally, content from NHK On Demand is available for separate purchase on the platform.
Books
U-Next offers a selection of manga and magazines for streaming, with titles from publishers such as Shogakukan, Kodansha, Shueisha, Kadokawa, Shufu no Tomo, Takarajimasha, and Shinchosha. The platform provides access to over 10,000 manga titles and more than 180 magazine titles free of charge. Popular weekly manga magazines, including Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump, and Weekly Shōnen Champion, are also available for individual purchase.[38]
In November 2022, U-Next launched its original comic label, U-Next Comic, which is further divided into three sub-labels.[39]
Sports
U-Next streams a range of sports content, including all events from the UFC, Glory kickboxing, Bellator MMA, and PGA Tour. The platform held exclusive live streaming rights for 33 PGA Tour events during the 2022–2023 season.[40]
Between March 2023 and June 2024, U-Next offered access to matches from the Premier League, Scottish Premiership, Serie A, and Major League Baseball.[36] As of June 30, 2023, it began live streaming all home games of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the Central League, including interleague play and the Japan Series.[41]
Beginning in August 2024, all matches from the Premier League and La Liga are available through an add-on service called the U-Next Soccer Pack, which is also offered as a standalone subscription.[36]
Pornographic Content
The H-Next service, which offers pornographic video content, is accessible only via the web on video.hnext.jp to users aged 18 and over. The service was initially bundled with U-Next’s monthly subscription but was separated as of June 21, 2024. At the same time, support for Visa and Mastercard payments was discontinued, reportedly due to pressure from credit card companies.[42]
Paravi
Premium Platform Japan (PPJ) was established in July 2017 by Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings, Nikkei, TV Tokyo Holdings, Wowow, Dentsu, and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners. On December 25, 2017, PPJ announced that the new video streaming service, scheduled to launch in April 2018, would be named Paravi—a coined term combining the Greek word "para" (meaning "close") and "vision." Paravi was officially launched on April 1, 2018, offering approximately 8,000 titles including content from TBS Television and TV Tokyo, with a monthly subscription fee of ¥999.[43][44]
On September 6, 2018, Wowow announced that its three BS channels—Wowow Prime, Wowow Live, and Wowow Cinema—would be available via 24-hour internet streaming on Paravi from December 1, 2018, for existing Wowow subscribers.[45]
Paravi’s first original drama series, Tourist, aired in 2018 as a three-part series, with episodes broadcast on TBS, TV Tokyo, and Wowow respectively. Exclusive versions containing additional scenes were made available on Paravi following each broadcast.[46][47][48]
On February 18, 2019, Paravi introduced the Paravi Wowow Plan, allowing users to stream Wowow’s channels online without a satellite subscription. This service was discontinued following the launch of Wowow On Demand on January 13, 2021.[49]
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Paravi offered free streaming of dramas and anime from March 12 to March 31, 2020.[50] Since 2020, Paravi has also streamed all home games of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars and continued to do so through 2023.[51]
On February 17, 2023, PPJ announced that it would merge with U-Next effective March 31, 2023. Paravi's services were integrated into the U-Next platform by July of the same year, with its content made available through U-Next’s monthly subscription plan.[52]
Points System
U-Next features a point-based system, with one point equivalent to one yen. Paid subscribers receive 1,200 points on the first day of each month. These points can be used to purchase premium content such as pay-per-view videos and e-books, as well as services like NHK On Demand and SPOTV Now. Additionally, points can be redeemed for movie tickets at major cinema chains in Japan.
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