is a Japanese subscription

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

service owned by

KDDI () is a Japanese telecommunications operator formed on October 1, 2000 through the merger of DDI Corp. (Daini-Denden Inc.), KDD (Kokusai Denshin Denwa) Corp. (itself a former listed state-owned enterprise privatized in 1998), and IDO Corp. It h ...

and

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

. It was launched as , also known as au Video Pass, in 2012 and was renamed to Telasa in 2020.

History

announced on May 15, 2012, that they would launch a subscription video-on-demand service for 590 yen per month. This service, called Video Pass, was specifically designed for au smartphones. As of 2014, Video Pass had approximately 1,000 titles available for its subscription-based video-on-demand service, and around 3,000 titles available for rental, including newly released content. June 2014, KDDI started a separate subscription video-on-demand service called Anime Pass in collaboration with

Kadokawa Kadokawa may refer to: *Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publis ...

, which focused on anime content and was available for 400 yen per month. This service was different from Video Pass. On August 20, 2015, KDDI and

announced a business partnership to exclusively distribute TV Asahi content on Video Pass. On January 12, 2016, KDDI announced that it would be discontinuing Anime Pass on April 30 of the same year. Instead, Video Pass would expand its anime content, and the catch-up distribution of anime programs currently being aired on TV would be more than doubled. Video Pass had already been providing popular anime titles such as ''

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...

'' and ''

Gundam is a Japanese military fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ''Mobile ...

'' series, with around 40% of its members reportedly watching anime content. The genre had consistently been at the top of the list of most viewed genres on the platform. On August 2, 2018, KDDI made Video Pass available for use by users other than au subscribers. On December 12, 2019, KDDI and

announced that they would establish a joint venture to handle their video streaming services. The joint venture was set to inherit Video Pass business by March 2020. The president of the joint venture was appointed as Takashi Yamamoto, the representative director of KDDI. While

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...

operates

Hulu Japan Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

with two million members (as of March 2019),

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

operates FOD, and

TBS Television TBS may stand for: Entertainment * Taipei Broadcasting Station, a radio station in Taipei, Taiwan * Tokyo Broadcasting System, a stock holding company in Tokyo, Japan ** TBS Television (Japan), a television station ** TBS Radio, a radio stati ...

and

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

operate Paravi, TV Asahi did not have a platform to distribute its own videos. With this joint operation, TV Asahi entered the fixed-rate video service business, which it had not previously pursued. The reason why the two companies joined forces is because, from the perspective of TV Asahi, KDDI has a user base as a mobile carrier. Additionally, they possess 5G technology, which will be a strength for future video distribution expansion. From the perspective of KDDI, compared to

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

and

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

, they have a weakness in having fewer original content. The same mobile carrier, NTT Docomo, operates dTV with a membership of 4 million people (as of June 2018). On the other hand, while Video Pass exceeded one million members in 2018, it had been struggling to grow since then. On April 7, 2020, Video Pass was rebranded as Telasa and started streaming TV Asahi's content.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Telasa KDDI TV Asahi Internet television streaming services Subscription video on demand services 2012 establishments in Japan Internet properties established in 2012 2020 establishments in Japan Internet properties established in 2020 Android (operating system) software IOS software PlayStation 4 software PlayStation 5 software Xbox One software Xbox Series X and Series S software