Abema Times

is a Japanese streaming service that launched on April 11, 2016, under the name It is majority-owned by CyberAgent, with a 55.2% stake, and TV Asahi, with a 36.8% stake, while the remaining ownership belongs to various other companies, mostly in the media and entertainment industry.

Abema primarily functions as an online television network, featuring multiple FAST channels that offer news, sports, entertainment programming, with the option to become a premium member to view past programs on demand.

History

Launch

CyberAgent and TV Asahi announced on March 31, 2015, that they would jointly establish a fixed-rate video distribution company called AbemaTV in April of that year. The company became subsidiaries of CyberAgent, and Shun Fujita, the President of CyberAgent, was appointed as the President of AbemaTV.

CyberAgent and TV Asahi launched the service on April 11, 2016, with some channels pre-released starting from March 1 of the same year. AbemaTV channels stream in real-time, similar to traditional linear TV, but missed programs can only be watched by becoming a premium plan member, which costs 960 yen per month.

Though CyberAgent also owns a similarly-named social networking service called Ameba, they chose not to re-use the brand for AbemaTV due to the existence of a Canadian service called Ameba TV. According to President Fujita, he wanted to convey that AbemaTV was a new and fresh service that was an extension of Ameba, which has been around for over 10 years. However, he also admitted that the name AbemaTV can be difficult to remember, pronounce, and often mistaken, stating that he himself occasionally misspeaks it.

Established position in Japan

On May 7, 2017, AbemaTV's live show ''Win 10 Million Yen if You Beat Koki Kameda'' set a new record with 14.2 million views, causing the service's servers to crash. AbemaTV offered the match footage for free on a special website. In December of the same year, AbemaTV announced that the ''72 Hour Honne TV'' program featuring three former members of SMAP had garnered 74 million views.

However, according to the financial statement as of September 30, 2017, AbemaTV recorded a net loss of 19.125 billion yen and a deficit of 28.38 billion yen in retained earnings. Despite this, CyberAgent plans to continue investing in AbemaTV in the fiscal year 2018 and expand into peripheral businesses such as radio channel launch and broadcast of shopping programs. The reason for disclosing the losses is to deter other companies from entering this field and also because the parent company, CyberAgent, is listed on the stock exchange and has a responsibility to explain to shareholders that the stagnant operating profit is due to the preemptive investment in AbemaTV, according to President Fujita.

In January 2019, CyberAgent disclosed that Abema Premium had 358,000 subscribers, a 4.5-fold increase from the previous year, and that AbemaTV's app had been downloaded 37 million times. The service had a record of 9.18 million weekly active users (WAU) during the New Year's holiday period. President Fujita explained that when AbemaTV started about three years ago, the plan was to create a linear TV service on the internet. However, almost all of the package content is available on-demand, with live streaming of news and sports being the only linear content. He also stated that AbemaTV's dramas are 95% on-demand. Fujita expressed his intention to strengthen the hybridization of linear and on-demand viewing in pursuit of user convenience.

On February 25, 2019, AbemaTV began a trial service for viewers outside Japan, with the ability to watch from the United States, Australia, Thailand, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Brazil using the iOS/Android app.

In March 2019, Abema announced a partnership with Dwango for content distribution. As part of this collaboration, from April 1, selected AbemaTV programs became available for streaming on Niconico, the video-sharing platform operated by Dwango.

In January 2020, CyberAgent announced its Q1 earnings for the 2020 fiscal year (October to December 2019), stating that the media division was boosted by AbemaTV, with a revenue increase of 6.9% to 12.2 billion yen, although there was an operating loss of 5 billion yen. The number of paid members for Abema Premium increased to 593,000.

As of March 4, 2020, AbemaTV reached 50 million cumulative downloads on its smartphone app. When the service was launched in 2016, its goal was to achieve 10 million weekly active users who could be monetized through advertising; the company achieved this goal for the first time in 2019. After March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic acted as a tailwind, and the number of weekly active users reached a record high of over 14.9 million in early April.

In April 2020, AbemaTV changed its name to Abema, due to the diversification of services beyond linear streaming to on-demand streaming and other offerings.

Investment in sports

On June 29, 2021, Abema announced that they would be live streaming 166 Major League Baseball games starting from July 1. The focus of the live streaming was on teams that included Japanese players, such as Shohei Ohtani's Los Angeles Angels. Out of the 166 games, 120 were available for free. On March 31, 2022, Abema announced that they would continue live streaming games for the 2022 season, starting from the opening game on April 8. The service streamed a total of 324 games, including all games of the Los Angeles Angels, with 234 of them being available for free. On March 22, 2023, Abema further announced that they would continue live streaming 324 games for the 2023 season, starting from the opening game.

On November 16, 2022, Abema announced that it would livestream for free all 64 matches, including the qualifiers, of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar starting from November 21, 2022.

As the broadcasting rights fees for the FIFA World Cup have been increasing in recent years, many private broadcasters have reported losses since the South Africa tournament in 2010. As reported by ''The Asahi Shimbun'' on July 28, 2021; the domestic broadcasting rights fee for the 1998 France tournament, which was purchased solely by NHK, was 550 million yen, but the amount offered for the Qatar tournament exceeded 20 billion yen, and an agreement could not be reached on the price. As a "soccer enthusiast" who was concerned that the World Cup might not be viewable in Japan, President Fujita decided to pursue the acquisition of broadcasting rights.

According to the official ranking of viewership by match that was announced, the "Japan vs. Croatia" match in the knockout stage on November 6 was the most watched, and the number of viewers immediately after the match exceeded 23 million. The second most watched match was the "Japan vs. Costa Rica" match in the group stage on November 17, and the third was the "Japan vs. Spain" match in the group stage on December 2. Abema explained that the number of viewers was counted as the "unique browsers" that accessed the site on that day, meaning that even if the same person accessed the site multiple times using different browser apps, they were counted as one person.

In February 2023, Abema entered into a content collaboration agreement with Netflix. As part of the partnership, Abema began producing new Netflix-exclusive installments of its popular youth-oriented romance reality series, including the ''Ōkami'' series and ''Falling in Love Like a Romantic Drama''. Netflix acquired the exclusive international streaming rights for these new series.

In 2023, Abema garnered a user base of 6.52 million people in February. According to the Mobile Society Research Institute's survey in the same year, it achieved a recognition rate of 69.4%. Additionally, the survey conducted by Hakuhodo DY Media Partners revealed that its usage rate stood at 34.4%.

In February 2024, Abema launched a partnership with DAZN, introducing a subscription plan titled "ABEMA de DAZN." This plan allows subscribers to watch a wide range of sports content distributed by DAZN, including the J.League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Formula One, and JLPGA tournaments. The plan is offered at a monthly rate of ¥4,200 or an annual rate of ¥32,000.

In April 2024, Abema expanded its sports content offerings through a partnership with WOWOW, launching a plan called "ABEMA de WOWOW". This plan provides access to WOWOW-distributed sports content such as the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, NBA, French Open, US Open, and Super Rugby Pacific. The service is available for ¥1,980 per month.

In May 2024, Abema partnered with J Sports, launching a new subscription plan called "ABEMA de J SPORTS" on May 13. For ¥2,180 per month, subscribers gain access to a range of sports content provided by J Sports On-Demand, including the Nippon Professional Baseball games hosted by the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, Chunichi Dragons, and Yokohama DeNA BayStars, as well as Japan Rugby League One, Super GT, and the Tour de France.

List of channels

Other channels

These channels run on an inconsistent schedule
* Abema Sports Live – Live sports competitions
* Shogi Live – Live shogi competitions
* Mahjong Live – Live Mahjong competitions
* Ōsumo Live – Live Honbasho Sumo matches and content

See also

* Ameba (website)
* Internet TV

References

External links

* – AbemaTV Official Site
* – AbemaTV, Inc. Company Official site
* – coderzhub Official Site

{{Authority control

Streaming television in Japan
2015 establishments in Japan
2016 software
Ameba (website)
Android (operating system) software
CyberAgent
Internet properties established in 2016
Internet technology companies of Japan
IOS software
Japanese companies established in 2015
Japanese entertainment websites
Mass media companies based in Tokyo
Mass media companies established in 2015
Online companies of Japan
TV Asahi