Japan Content IP (July 2026 supplementary report)

Research evidence excerpt

Japan Content IP (July 2026 supplementary report)

in 27/3 Q1 as they were a year prior, we see downside risks given these numbers.

Live-action titles: Content produced by broadcasters holding up reasonably well,

raising the prospect of further growth in overseas sales

Most live-action titles based on Japanese content that logged over 2mn views in 26/12 H1

were Netflix originals (Figure4). Initial viewer numbers for the drama series SinsofKujo,

which was produced by TBS Holdings [9401] (Neutral) and streamed on Netflix, were

roughly quadruple the viewer numbers for Let'sGetDivorced, released in 23/12 H1, and

we expect a substantial contribution to earnings.

Several live-action dramas broadcast on terrestrial TV, mainly by TBS Holdings, also had

more than 2mn views. Broadcasters have been working to maximize the value of their

video content via the three revenue streams of: (1) terrestrial advertising revenues; (2)

streaming advertising revenues; and (3) paid streaming revenues (Figure5). We look for

growth in overseas revenues from paid streaming of terrestrial live-action drama titles.

Sports: WBC ripple effects on terrestrial broadcasting; we await progress with

measures to address various issues

In sports, Netflix was the exclusive distributor for the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC),

and each game involving the Japan team garnered over 6mn views. At the same time, this

is lower than the estimated 10mn viewers in the Kanto region for each of the 2023 games.

In terms of ripple effects, this confirms that there are still issues with paid streaming

services and that terrestrial broadcasting still has its strengths (Figure6).

As we discussed in our 3 April 2026 report JapanContentIP(April2026), broadcasting

rights fees for sports content have continued to rise.