U-Next
U-Next is a Japanese over-the-top streaming platform. It primarily owned by U-Next Holdings, with TBS Holdings and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners serving as minority shareholders.
Originally launched in 2007 as GyaO Next, the service has grown into one of the Japan's leading streaming platforms, reaching 5 million subscribers as of November 2025. In addition to video streaming, the platform provides an ebook distribution service. As of 2024, U-Next holds a 17.9% market share of the subscription video-on-demand sector in Japan, ranking second only to Netflix.
The platform integrates the HBO Max library and Paravi, featuring TBS Television and TV Tokyo content, as bundled services. It also distributes NBCUniversal libraries, including Peacock Originals, and Paramount libraries with Paramount+ Originals, with some titles streamed exclusively in Japan. Additionally, football matches such as La Liga and Premier League are available via dedicated hubs.
History
Launched as GyaO Next
In June 2006, Usen began a project to investigate the possibility of watching GyaO, an advertising-supported video on demand service for PCs owned by the company, on television. GyaO, which was later operated by Yahoo! Japan and terminated its services in 2023, was one of the most influential platforms in Japan's online video distribution market at the time.On February 1, 2007, Usen started selling GyaO Plus, a set-top box that allowed users to watch GyaO on their televisions. At the time, the set-top box had internet connectivity, but could only be used to watch GyaO.
On June 1, 2007, GyaO Next, a pay-per-view video distribution service using GyaO Plus, was launched. Unlike GyaO, which was available for free, GyaO Next cost 3,900 yen to 4,950 yen per month in addition to the initial cost and the set-top box fee. GyaO refreshes its catalog every 10 days to 2 weeks, while GyaO Next is an archive. As a result, there was little overlap between the two services in terms of user base."
In June 2008, the price was reduced from ¥3,900/month to ¥2,980/month with the same content plus additional content such as all professional baseball games of the Pacific League and a number of karaoke songs.
On April 7, 2009, Yahoo! Japan announced that it would acquire 51% of the shares of GyaO, which had been a wholly owned subsidiary of Usen, from Usen for 529 million yen, making it a subsidiary. The acquisition was aimed at building the largest video platform in Japan by integrating it with Yahoo! Video, which is owned by Yahoo! Japan. GyaO Next, however, was not part of the deal.
Renamed as U-Next
On December 1, 2009, GyaO Next was renamed U-Next. The "U" includes the meanings of "United" and "Universe" as well as Usen. This business was transferred from Usen to its subsidiary U-Next Co., Ltd. in December 2010. U-Next Co., Ltd. was spun off from Usen as a private company of Yasuhide Uno, who was the president of Usen.In April 2009, the service began offering music broadcasting from Usen, a cable broadcasting service. And in September 2009, the number of subscribers exceeded 100,000. As of November 2009, the service included approximately 25,000 videos, 15,000 karaoke videos, 9 channels, and 504 Usen music broadcast channels. As of July 2010, more than 50,000 titles had been distributed, including terrestrial broadcast dramas and missed anime broadcasts. U-Next was available by July 2010 on select models of Sony's Bravia, Sharp's Aquos, Toshiba's Regza, Hitachi's Wooo, Panasonic's Viera, and LG's Smart TV.
In November 2013, the company announced a content partnership with 20th Century Fox to distribute more than 150 films.
In 2014, the service supported streaming by the iPhone, iPad, Android phones/tablets, AirPlay, and Chromecast. The following year, Dolby Audio was adopted to deliver 7.1 channels.
The e-book service was launched in April 2014 with the BookPlace for U-Next app and integrated with the video service in 2019. Also in the same year, U-Next partnered with theater chain T-Joy to allow movie tickets to be purchased by U-Next points; in 2016, it formed similar partnerships with Shochiku Multiplex Theaters and United Cinemas; and in 2017, with Tokyu Recreation. In 2022, they also partnered with Toho Cinemas, the only remaining major theater chain.
On December 16, 2014, U-Next was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers. In 2015, the company changed its listing to the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
In February 2017, U-Next announced that it would conduct a tender offer for shares of Usen and integrate its operations. The company shifted to a holding company structure, with each business of U-Next and Usen placed as subsidiaries under the umbrella of the holding company Usen-Next Holdings.
In July 2020, U-Next acquired the anime-focused video streaming service Anime Hōdai through absorption-type split from SoftBank for 2.5 billion yen. Meanwhile, U-Next had been operating Anime Hōdai since 2015 before the acquisition.
In 2020, it was announced that the service had surpassed 2 million members as of August.
In March 2021, U-Next announced a partnership with WarnerMedia to exclusively distribute 199 HBO and HBO Max original productions in Japan by 2023. The company also announced plans to further strengthen its partnership agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery by distributing 332 of those productions in 2023.
According to a survey by Gem Partners, the market share of Japan's subscription-based video streaming services based on revenue in 2022 shows that U-Next, which ranked third the previous year, has overtaken Amazon Prime Video with a share of 12.6%, making it the second-largest player behind Netflix, which holds a 22.3% market share.
Merger with Paravi
On February 17, 2023, U-Next announced its merger with Premium Platform Japan, which operates the subscription video streaming service Paravi with 0.85 million subscribers and is owned by TBS Television and TV Tokyo. The merger will take effect on March 31, with U-Next being the surviving company. On the same day, U-Next also announced business partnerships with TBS Holdings, TBS Television, and TV Tokyo to establish collaborative content procurement and mass-market promotion. Additionally, U-Next entered into business partnerships with Dentsu and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners to utilize the video distribution platform for advertising and other related businesses. On March 31, the merger was completed, and the following day, TBS Holdings and Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, acquired U-Next's shares.On March 3, Yasuharu Uno, the President of Usen-Next Holdings, expressed his desire to increase U-Next's subscribers to 10 million and stated that he wants to "surpass Netflix." He mentioned that he hopes to reach this goal "in 5 to 10 years." He also stated, "Strong companies are those that compete globally. We want to cooperate with other domestic players," indicating that the company will explore possibilities for collaboration with other companies in the future.
On June 29, U-Next announced that it had conducted a third-party allotment of shares to TBS Holdings, raising approximately 24.3 billion yen in funding. This resulted in TBS Holdings' ownership stake increasing from 2.25% to 20%, and U-Next became an equity method affiliate company of TBS Holdings.
On June 30, the integration of Paravi into U-Next was completed. As a result, approximately 10,000 drama series and variety programs owned by Paravi, including those from TBS and TV Tokyo, became available for viewing on U-Next. As a result, with the combined figures, the total revenue exceeded 800 billion yen, there were 3.7 million paid subscribers, and a library of 350,000 titles. This positioned the merged service as the second-largest video streaming service in the Japanese market, following Netflix, in terms of total revenue, paid subscribers, and title count.
Expansion of sports content
Starting from April 2023, U-Next has signed a multi-year domestic distribution partnership agreement with Ultimate Fighting Championship. They have announced that they will live stream all UFC events, including UFC Number Series, UFC Fight Night, and Road to UFC.On June 21, 2023, U-Next announced a fundamental partnership agreement with Spanish La Liga until the 2027-28 season. Starting from the 2023-24 season, U-Next is exclusively livestream all matches of La Liga, as well as the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España, within Japan.
On July 23, 2024, U-Next announced a fundamental partnership agreement with the English Premier League until the 2030-31 season. Starting from the 2024-25 season, U-Next is exclusively livestream all matches of the league, as well as the FA Cup, within Japan. On August 9, they launched the U-Next Soccer Pack, which costs an additional ¥2,600 per month and allows viewers to watch all Premier League and La Liga matches. They also made it possible to subscribe to the Soccer Pack independently.
According to the company president Tenshin Tsutsumi, the service's expansion is largely due to its sports offerings, with European association football showing clear profitability. He stated that the platform will focus on four main pillars: golf, soccer, combat sports, and tennis. Regarding strategy, he added that U-Next favors regular competitions over large-scale events like the World Cup to maximize investment efficiency.
Growth to 5 million subscribers
In September 2024, U-Next announced a partnership agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery to offer the streaming service Max within U-Next. All HBO and Max original movies and series are exclusively distributed in Japan. Additionally, it was decided that Japanese programing will be distributed worldwide through Max.On November 26, 2025, the service reported that it had topped 5 million paying subscribers. According to the announcement, U-Next is the first Japanese SVOD provider with a monthly fee of ¥1,000 or higher to achieve a subscriber base of this size.
To enhance its global presence, U-Next entered the film production market with A Pale View of Hills, an adaptation of the Kazuo Ishiguro novel. The film, executive produced by Tsutsumi, was selected for the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2025. Following its international debut, the movie was released domestically on September 5, 2025, through distributor Gaga.
On November 12, 2025, the company announced a strategic goal of reaching over 6.3 million subscribers by August 2030. During the announcement, Tsutsumi also revealed plans to enter the music streaming market by August 2026. Citing global trends in media consolidation, Tsutsumi emphasized the necessity of "economies of scale" in response to the saturated Japanese market.