Bridging the Rapid Growth of the TV Asahi x KDDI Video Streaming Service with Unwavering Trust and Agile Development: Aiming for Over 2 Million Members Through the Introduction of “BlendVision”

TELASA Corporation, established as a joint venture between TV Asahi and KDDI, operates the video streaming service “TELASA” with the concept of "Making what you want to see more freely!" TELASA streams drama, variety shows, anime, tokusatsu(special effects), sports programs, domestic and foreign films, documentaries, etc., mainly featuring TV Asahi programs. The streaming platform introduced in this service is “BlendVision”, provided by KKCompany Japan (hereafter, KKCompany). What are the intentions and expectations for the future regarding this implementation? We asked Taro Hashimoto, the company's General Planning Director and Deputy Director of Programming, and Wataru Yoshikawa, the Deputy Director of the General Planning Bureau.

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TV Asahi × KDDI's Video Streaming Service at a Monthly Fee of 618 Yen

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BlendVision Team (hereafter referred to as BV): First, could you tell us about your company's business?
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Deputy Director of the General Planning Bureau, Wataru Yoshikawa (hereafter referred to as Yoshikawa): 

Our company is a joint venture established in December 2019, with a 50% investment ratio from both TV Asahi and KDDI. The video streaming service “TELASA”, operated by our company, delivers videos such as dramas and anime as a subscription service for 618 yen per month (tax included). 

The difference from our competitors is not only the "unlimited viewing" of content but also the ability to "rent" on a pay-per-view basis. In addition, it features multi-device compatibility, including tablets and TVs, and supports 4K.
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General Planning Director and Deputy Director of Programming, Taro Hashimoto (hereafter referred to as Hashimoto):

The main selling point is that we not only provide TV Asahi content as we are the main broadcasting station for TV Asahi, but we also offer dramas, movies, and anime from outside TV Asahi for 618 yen. Our customers say it's "cheap", and we take pride in being a great service not only for those who love TV Asahi's content but also for those who love video content in general.
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Yoshikawa: 

In terms of promotion, we have the unique strength of exclusive broadcasting of TV Asahi programs, announcements on terrestrial broadcasting, and customer referrals from TVer.
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Hashimoto:

Considering that TELASA plays the role of a “bond” between the two companies that originally had no connection, KDDI and TV Asahi, we can see what TELASA should do from now on.

For example, TV Asahi has strong content and can promote on terrestrial broadcasting, while KDDI has the au(Japanese mobile phone operator, a subsidiary of KDDI) sales channel, so promotions can also be expanded on au. It is possible to maximize the assets of both companies because we have the video streaming service TELASA. Moreover, I believe that the ultimate goal of TELASA is to achieve the growth of TELASA itself as a result of realizing the strategic goals of both KDDI and TV Asahi's main businesses.

In the case of TV Asahi, they’ve been promoting the “360° strategy” since the fiscal year 2017. It is a strategy to make content the source of value and to expand it in all directions, such as terrestrial broadcasts, BS, CS, and the internet. Although the scale of the distribution business itself is still small, TELASA, which is steadily growing, has a significant role to play. 

At KDDI, increasing the communication ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) is a company-wide issue, but the strategy utilizing the rich content of TV Asahi holds great potential for increasing the ARPU.

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Ensuring User Satisfaction with “Absolute Peace of Mind and Development Flexibility"

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BV: Why did you decide to introduce "BlendVision" as a streaming platform in your business?
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Hashimoto:

In short, it's about quality, cost, and proven track record. Another factor was the flexibility in development. We used to use a streaming platform from an overseas solution provider. 

However, in order to respond to the rapid development of the streaming industry, we needed a platform that could respond quickly to changing users and market trends.
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BV: Could you please share your honest feedback on the support provided by KKCompany and your overall experience after introducing BlendVision?
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Hashimoto: 

What we expect from a streaming platform is to provide our customers with the freedom to watch the content they want with peace of mind, which is in line with our company's concept of "More freedom to what you want to see!". 

For example, providing an environment free from disruptions such as "the video stops in the middle" or "the button doesn't respond when pressed" is essential. We introduced BlendVision precisely because it has a track record and offers a sense of security. Thanks to it, we can confidently say that TELASA has become a video streaming service that customers can trust.
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Yoshikawa: 

Regarding KKCompany, the impression is indeed “flexible”. People like me who are not familiar with development often casually say things like "Can we also change the appearance here?". But they always come up with ideas and think of ways to make it happen.

They also respond quickly! We always communicate with BlendVision's contact person via Slack, and they reply promptly.
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Hashimoto:

We appreciate the sense of speed with which they implement things as soon as we ask. This year, we were able to quickly implement a live feature for members, which I believe was a result of teaming up with KKCompany. 

Another distinctive feature is that we often receive proposals from KKCompany before we ask for anything. Japanese vendors tend to take a matter-of-fact approach, saying "Please provide the specifications first", and the end result is often exactly as specified in the document. 

But the people at KKCompany are strongly motivated to provide a good service and actively suggest "how about doing it this way?" That's why sometimes our ideas clash with theirs (laughs).
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Yoshikawa: 

They particularly make many suggestions regarding UI design. 

Our company's UI promotion system also includes a design team from TV Asahi. They propose a wonderful design concept with a sense of unity, but when it comes to adjusting it to a smartphone app, for example, development experience is also necessary for implementation. 

When we consult with KKCompany, our requests tend to be abstract, like "make it look brighter," but even then, they create actual screen images by the following week. 

What surprises me is that they "understand" the parts that should be discussed in detail from the customer's perspective, such as adjusting to different screen sizes for each smartphone model, or text color. In other words, they also have proposal skills in this area. 

When developing together, I feel that the strengths of both the TV Asahi designers and KKCompany designers are being utilized.

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Aiming to Reach 2 Million Members Through High-Quality Response on Short Delivery and Close Cooperation

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BV: Are there any other points that make you feel it was good to introduce BlendVision?
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Yoshikawa:

We also have opportunities to work with various vendors, but the people at KKCompany really work sincerely and diligently. 

For example, we recently successfully completed a project to add a payment method. 

The scariest thing about payment-related projects is the problem of incorrect billing. If troubles such as double payments or billing customers who have not yet subscribed occur, it not only damages the reputation of the video streaming service, but also poses a reputation risk for the company, including TV Asahi and KDDI. 

Therefore, we need to be more cautious than usual when adding features. This means that while we need to meet our usual delivery deadlines, we also require high-quality work. 

We made some tough requests to KKCompany, but they managed to successfully deliver the project on time. We realized once again that it was a good decision to migrate to BlendVision.
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BV: Could you also tell us about the results of TELASA after introducing BlendVision?
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Yoshikawa:

In the three years since our company's establishment, the recognition of the brand "TELASA" has doubled. Furthermore, our membership has increased by more than 20%, putting us in a position to aim for 2 million members. 

Although there is the power of the content itself and the power of PR using terrestrial television, as Hashimoto mentioned, if we were constantly causing troubles, this growth would not have been possible. I think these are figures backed by the quality of BlendVision as a streaming platform.

In terms of service, we’ve diversified the devices we support, and now users can enjoy videos on smart glasses. The fact that we were able to quickly catch the trend of the spread of VR was also largely due to the introduction of BlendVision and having KKCompany run alongside us.
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Hashimoto:

For the next fiscal year, we are aiming for 2 million members. What's important for increasing the number of members is both strengthening content and improving the quality as a streaming platform. 

Since introducing BlendVision, we’ve shared hardships with KKCompany, but we still feel that there are areas for improvement. However, thanks to their swift efforts to make these improvements, we’ve been able to update towards a more user-friendly service. Moving forward, we would like to continue working together to provide a safe and reliable service.
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Yoshikawa:

As is often said, it's a fact that the video market has become a "red ocean". With many forms of entertainment such as smartphone games, there is a "battle for disposable time" among customers. 

So, what will we do? TELASA gathers quality content. It's our streaming platform, BlendVision, that serves as a bridge between this excellent content and our customers. We look forward to the synergistic effects of BlendVision and our content.

In essence, I believe that video streaming services should be a form of entertainment that "accompanies" the lives of our customers.

In the past, watching a movie was an event that required a trip to the cinema. But now, we live in an era where you can "watch on the go", use video content as background music, and instantly encounter new content just by opening your smartphone.

Recently, we had KKCompany implement a picture-in-picture feature. Isn't it a good service to be able to offer our customers various ways to enjoy content?

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An Indispensable Presence in Video Streaming that “Accompanies” with Users' Lives

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BV: Finally, could you share your future prospects?
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Yoshikawa:

As is often said, it's a fact that the video market has become a "red ocean". With many forms of entertainment such as smartphone games, there is a "battle for disposable time" among customers. 

So, what will we do? TELASA gathers quality content. It's our streaming platform, BlendVision, that serves as a bridge between this excellent content and our customers. We look forward to the synergistic effects of BlendVision and our content.

In essence, I believe that video streaming services should be a form of entertainment that "accompanies" the lives of our customers.

In the past, watching a movie was an event that required a trip to the cinema. But now, we live in an era where you can "watch on the go", use video content as background music, and instantly encounter new content just by opening your smartphone.

Recently, we had KKCompany implement a picture-in-picture feature. Isn't it a good service to be able to offer our customers various ways to enjoy content?
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Hashimoto:

From the business portfolios of TV Asahi, KDDI, and TELASA, it becomes clear that there are things TELASA should be doing.

For example, increasing KDDI's ARPU. As you know, competition in the mobile phone market is intensifying, particularly around communication fees.

KDDI has not only the au brand but also the sub-brand UQ Mobile, and the budget smartphone brand povo, aligning their branding strategy with the price orientation of customers. However, challenges remain in terms of ARPU.

So, it becomes necessary to think about how to encourage users to utilize more data. The key lies in the content, especially video content, which requires a large amount of data.

We have an almost inexhaustible amount of video content from TV Asahi at our disposal. From nationally recognized dramas such as "Aibou" and "Doctor X", to youth-targeted dramas and a wide variety of shows, the strength of TV Asahi's content is its ability to cater to diverse needs. Depending on the needs of our customers, such as those using au or UQ, we should think about how we can provide these contents in a way that they will enjoy, and whether we can increase KDDI's ARPU as a result. I believe that this is something that TELASA should do.

To make this vision a reality, we need to continue to strengthen our content and improve the quality of our streaming platform.

The sense of security that customers can use BlendVision without trouble, and the speed of adding new features, are so important that the whole plan would collapse without them. Therefore, we would like to continue to request your cooperation in the future.

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