In a deal that extends the reach of its original programming to the Land of the Rising Sun, HBO has inked an exclusive SVOD licensing agreement with Hulu in Japan (HJ Holdings LLC).
The deal will enable Hulu in Japan to offer an array of HBO series, including Silicon Valley, and give HBO the opportunity to premiere originals that have never been offered in that country.
In addition to Silicon Valley, the deal covers “hundreds of hours” of programming from HBO’s library, starting off with series and titles such as 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, Enourage, Little Britain USA, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn, Carnivale, The Pacific, and The Wire.
Those titles could help to drive subs to Hulu in Japan, which competes there with OTT rivals Netflix and Amazon.
“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,” Kazufumi Nagasawa, chief content officer, HJ Holdings, said in a statement.
“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,” added Charles Schreger, president, programming sales, HBO. “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.”
HJ Holdings is a full owned subsidiary Japanese broadcast company Nippon Television Network Corp. Hulu launched service in Japan in September 2011, and Hulu’s Japan business was fully acquired by Nippon TV in April 2014.
