Nippon TV eyes growth in North America as part of $650m annual sales target by 2033

Gyokuro Studio head Ken Akiyama addressing delegates at TIFFCOM on Wednesday

TIFFCOM: Japanese broadcast group Nippon Television has laid out an ambitious plan to increase international revenues by five times over the next eight years, with growth in overseas markets, particularly North America, forming a key part of its strategy.

A trio of the company’s top execs were on hand at the Tokyo International Film Festival Content Market (TIFFCOM) on Wednesday to lay out how it will reach its international sales goal of ¥100bn (roughly US$650m) annually by 2033, compared to around ¥20bn in fiscal 2024.

The implementation of the new strategy comes as Japan’s TV advertising market has stagnated at around ¥1.6tr annually, while the market for Japanese content overseas has grown to ¥4.7tr and continues to grow. Around 90% of the latter is driven by anime and games, with Nippon TV believing significant growth opportunities exist in Japanese unscripted and scripted series, movies, music and live entertainment.

Around four months ago, the Tokyo-headquartered company, which is behind formats including Dragon’s Den/Shark Tank and Old Enough!, opened its first LA office with the goal of working more closely with US and Canadian studios and building its own production business in North America.

Keiichi Sawa, Nippon TV’s board director and senior executive operating officer, told TIFFCOM delegates the company is making a “full-scale” move into the international market, shifting its “mindset” from prioritising domestic ratings to focusing on the broader international expansion of its IP and the creation of new content.

That, he said, will also require the Japanese company to become more collaborative with international players. “I don’t think we can do everything, so we must pursue co-creation and coproduction,” he said, adding that the new LA hub is focused on “gathering information” about the North American market and building a “production framework” across the region.

Nippon TV already works closely with Canadian studio Blue Ant Media, which produces a local version of Old Enough! for Canada’s TVO, and the companies struck a development and production pact earlier this year. There are talks with other companies about forming other business alliances, said Sawa.

In addition to expanding its coproduction and remake business, forging closer ties with global streamers is another top priority. Nippon recently partnered with Disney+ on a travel series following boy band Snow Man and is working on other projects with Netflix and Prime Video.

Taking its anime business, which is already a significant revenue source, into a new direction is another key aim. “We used to sell [our anime projects] and be done,” said Sawa, but under its expanded strategy, Nippon TV is focusing on merchandising and cultivating fandoms in new ways. One example is the 2025 launch of an acclaimed stage version of My Neighbour Totoro on London’s West End.

Nippon TV is looking to supercharge its international formats business with the recent launch of in-house studio Gyokuro Studio. Ken Akiyama, head of the studio, outlined a three-pronged strategy focused on unscripted formats (it aims to launch 10 new titles annually on its broadcast network); developing original content for major international streamers, and in the process helping to elevate Japanese creators on the world stage; and branded content.

At Mipcom earlier this month, Gyokuro Studio introduced buyers to two of its new formats: Mega Catch, described as an action-packed gameshow where players must catch massive flying objects to claim cash prizes, an Secret Little Assistant, a kids’ reality format in which children secretly sneak into their parents’ workplaces and try to help out without getting caught. The latter is inspired by Nippon TV’s family-friendly format Old Enough!.

The Tokyo-based outfit is also leaning heavily into AI with the launch of AiDi, led by Takayuki Shinoda, which has brought new capabilities to its live broadcasting and will also be used to enhance and accelerate content creation, it said.