Japan’s television broadcasters are stepping up efforts to capture new viewers in the Asian markets, where they see high-growth potential, by leveraging popular Japanese dramas and other shows. Tokyo Metropolitan Television Broadcasting, known as Tokyo MX, and China’s Dalian Television are jointly creating a programme featuring a close-up look at Chinese tourists in Japan. The show is called Where Are You Going Tomorrow? and begins by asking a group of Chinese tourists travelling in Japan what their plans are for the next day. The programme then closely follows them for 24 hours, introducing local specialities and shopping tips along the way. Since November 2015, the programme has regularly aired in China, and there are plans to make it available on some Japan-China flights which started in February 2016.

The Japanese broadcaster is enthusiastic about expanding the show’s markets. It is currently available on a China-based video streaming website, and there are plans to broaden to Indonesia and other countries. Tokyo MX marked the 20th anniversary of its foundation in 2015. In focusing on the future, the company aims to enhance its global presence and has launched an in-house section to handle overseas business. “The television market in Japan is becoming oversupplied,” said Nobuyoshi Shirota, general manager of the international relations division in the programming department. “We are betting our future on the potential of overseas markets.” The broadcaster aims to achieve overseas sales of 300 million yen to 500 million yen ($2.47 million to $4.12 million) for fiscal 2016, ending March 2017, mainly from sponsorship sales.

Jumping on the bandwagon Other TV companies are joining the action. Fuji Television Network recently signed a strategic partnership with Shanghai Media Group Pictures to provide the rights to remake for TV or adapt to film five of its dramas over the next three years. While struggling to continue attracting Japanese viewers at home, the broadcaster has found success in China. Two of its dramas, Tokyo Love Story and The 101st Proposal, which both aired in 1991 in Japan, are still highly popular in China. Fuji TV has sold the rights to its dramas to Chinese businesses in the past, but now is determined to take a step further and build a stable revenue base for medium- and long-term prospects. It plans to send programme producers to China and spend money to jointly produce dramas with its new partner.

Another company joining the competition is Wakuwaku Japan, a unit of leading Japanese satellite TV operator Sky Perfect JSAT. The broadcaster plans to expand coverage to 22 countries by 2020. Currently, it has channels in Indonesia, Myanmar and Singapore, which air Japanese dramas and J-League soccer matches. The company is looking to launch a themed channel on the platform of a leading cable TV operator in Singapore in an effort to increase viewership. Nippon TV’s Dragons’ Den (Shark Tank in the US) is currently available in 29 formats and airing in 184 countries across the globe, and the hit drama series The Last Cop beginning its second season, Nippon Television Network Corporation (Nippon TV), the leading commercial broadcaster and network in Japan offering entertainment, anime, documentaries and news, announced today that the company will be heading to MIPCOM 2016 with a new drama, Pretty Proofreader (10 x 60’), and two new formats Burning Questions! (60’ eps.) and The Character (60’ eps.).

The announcement was made today by Mr Atsushi Hatayama, recently appointed President of International Business Development for the company. “We are extremely proud to be the top-rated broadcast network in Japan for the past two consecutive years and this is thanks in part to our highly successful formats, Burning Questions! and The Character, currently airing on Nippon TV. MIPCOM is the perfect platform for us to showcase these titles to the international buyers around the world,” commented Mr. Hatayama.“In addition, we are confident our new drama series, Pretty Proofreader, will resonate well in all territories, as has as our incredibly successful Dragons’ Den which is a phenomenal hit worldwide. We have much to be proud of.” The first new format from Nippon TV is Burning Questions!, the ultimate true or false quiz show where there’s no shortage of intriguing, bizarre, and sometimes risque questions to pique your interest. It’s all about good fun and new discoveries for players and viewers alike in this one-hour studio game show where celebrity contestants battle it out to see who can rack up the highest number of points.

The player who does so gets a shot at winning a fabulous prize. But some unfortunate ones get their embarrassing secrets revealed. The questions alone are enough to leave the players wondering and debating. But two cunningly eloquent representatives, Mr True and Mr False, join in to sway their answers. Next in line is the new format The Character where 2D characters are the ultimate manifestation of their creators’ dreams and imaginations.

Nippon TV’s futuristic hit show The Character gives anime-aficionado celebrities the opportunity to develop characters that will spread love and joy to the world for ages to come. Combining their fresh ideas and passion with cutting edge Japanimation technology, these anime gurus bring to life two-dimensional characters that they nurture from concept to creation. With the ultimate goal of seeing their “babies” make a splash on the world stage, they oversee every detail of character design, character configuration, voice selection, theme music, dance choreography, music video production and 3D animation. On the drama, front is the Pretty Proofreader, a new series that follows twenty-eight-year-old Etsuko, the ultimate fashionista. Her lifelong dream is to become an editor for a fashion magazine.

After much searching, she finally secures an offer from a large publishing house, only to find out that she’s been assigned to the least glamorous department in the company—the proofreading department. She meticulously investigates every single issue, and it reflects on her unique proofreading style, which is so bold and daring that it leads to one trouble after another. Sony Pictures Television (SPT) Networks and Nippon Television Network Corporation’s joint venture jewel of Asian general entertainment the GEM is making head waves with more than 500 hours of Japanese content per year exclusively from Nippon TV.

The channel features first- Pretty Proofreader run and exclusive dramas, comedies and variety entertainment shows from Japan as well as other Asian territories including South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This also includes selected prime-time dramas on the same day and within the same week of their broadcast in Japan. “GEM was conceived to meet the growing demand for Japanese dramas and variety shows in Asia,” said Sony’s Virginia Lim, SVP and Head of Content Production and Marketing. “The partnership with Japan’s leading broadcaster Nippon TV has enabled the channel to amass many groundbreaking achievements in just its first year of launch. We have rapidly expanded our reach to six markets in Asia and have continuously delivered to our viewers the latest and most popular programmes express from Japan. GEM has brought to viewers several firsts – it was the first channel outside of Japan to broadcast Nippon TV’s annual music festival THE MUSIC DAY through a Live telecast, and the first channel to broadcast a drama – Guard Center 24 – at the same time as Japan.

“Aside from these express titles, GEM has ventured into original productions with We are Asia – Dean Fujioka & Friends, a travel infotainment programme shot across five Asian cities. We have also brought to viewers beyond-the-screen experiences through artiste-led promotional events in their home cities and money-can’t-buy access to studio sets in Japan. With this all achieved in just one year, we are looking forward to bringing more top-quality, premium programming and experiences to our viewers.”