Hulu in Japan announces exclusive SVOD licensing arrangement with HBO
In addition to licensing SVOD rights to acclaimed HBO classics like the global hit ‘Game of Thrones,’ Hulu will bring some HBO series, including ‘Silicon Valley,’ to Japan for the first time.
Japan(18 Feb 2016)
HJ Holdings, LLC (Hulu in Japan) and Home Box Office, Inc.?HBO?announce today an expansive new licensing deal, in which Hulu in Japan will have exclusive subscription video on demand (SVOD) rights to hundreds of hours of programming from HBO’s library, and will premiere some HBO series never before seen in Japan.
Beginning today, Hulu will introduce its viewers to the remarkable catalogue of HBO, the most popular premium network in the United States. The HBO titles Hulu will allow its viewers to stream on demand this year include the global phenomenon ‘Game of Thrones,’ which won 12 Emmy Awards in 2015 – breaking the record for the most wins for a series in a single year – including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. In addition to well-known library titles such as ‘Sex and the City’ and ‘The Sopranos’, Hulu will substantially expand its content selection to add over 800 episodes from HBO’s programming portfolio, including some series that have not yet been released in Japan, such as the Emmy® and Golden Globe award-winning comedy series ‘Silicon Valley’.
Regarding the expansion of the relationship between Hulu in Japan and HBO, Kazufumi Nagasawa, Chief Content Officer, HJ Holdings and Charles Schreger, President, Programming Sales, HBO commented as follows:
Hulu in Japan: Comment by Kazufumi Nagasawa, Chief Content Officer
“We are very excited to be able to deliver HBO’s great line-up, which could be described as a treasure chest of US drama series, to Hulu’s viewers in Japan. Personally, I am very delighted to finally be able to watch ‘Silicon Valley’. We are committed to bringing to our subscribers in Japan the world’s greatest film and TV programming, which I am proud to say will now include hundreds of hours of HBO miniseries and series like ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘True Detective,’, and other hits.”
HBO?Comment by Charles Schreger, President, Programming Sales
“We are delighted to work together with Hulu in Japan to bring HBO’s distinctive programming to Hulu’s viewers, who have a great eye for foreign drama. HBO is committed to delivering the most groundbreaking and creative shows to its audience, and we welcome this opportunity to introduce more of our greatest series and miniseries to Hulu’s viewers in Japan.”
HBO initial content line-up (In random order)
Premiere series
Library series
- Game of Thrones
- True Detective
- Girls
- Sex and the City
- The Sopranos
- Boardwalk Empire
- The Newsroom
- Six Feet Under
- True Blood
- Band of Brothers
- Rome
- Entourage
- Little Britain USA
- Todd McFarlane’s Spawn
- Carnivale
- The Pacific
- The Wire
About Hulu in Japan
Hulu is an online SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) service, operated by HJ Holdings, LLC., a fully owned subsidiary of Nippon Television Network Corporation (Nippon TV), Japan's first and leading commercial broadcaster. Hulu provides audiences in Japan with unlimited access to broad selections of premium content when, where, and how they want it. Hulu’s extensive content catalogue varies from global-hit feature films to popular international and Japanese shows, including TV series, animation, documentaries, and reality shows, which can be viewed on a wide range of internet-connected devices including TVs, PCs, tablets, smartphones, STBs, and gaming consoles. Originally a subsidiary of Hulu, LLC, which launched its Japan service in September 2011, Hulu’s Japan business was fully acquired by Nippon TV in April 2014.
About HBO
Home Box Office, Inc. is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. and the world’s most successful pay TV service, delivering its two television services – HBO and Cinemax – to approximately 122 million subscribers worldwide. The services offer the popular subscription video-on-demand products HBO On Demand and Cinemax On Demand, as well as HBO GO and MAX GO, HD feeds and multiplex channels. HBO NOW, the network’s internet only premium streaming service, provides audiences with instant access to HBO’s acclaimed programming in the U.S. Internationally, HBO-branded television networks, along with the subscription video-on-demand products HBO On Demand and HBO GO, bring HBO services to over 60 countries, and HBO and Cinemax programming is sold into over 150 countries worldwide.