Tokyo Broadcasting System executive Katsuaki Setoguchi has a blunt message for Japan’s TV industry: the country has the hits, but not the brand. Speaking at TIFFCOM on Thursday, he called on broadcasters, streamers and producers to stop operating in silos and build a shared ‘J-content’ identity in the way South Korea built K-content.
Setoguchi admitted he dismissed Korean drama when he was a rising producer in 2001, when Japan’s television profile easily outranked Korea’s. Twenty-five years later, he said, the positions have reversed. Korea benefited from a long-term, collective and government-supported vision, while Japanese networks were consumed by day-to-day linear competition.
The K-content playbook
Korea’s advantage was never one show. It was a category that global buyers and platforms could recognise, commission and market. By contrast, Japanese titles have travelled as individual successes rather than as a coherent export brand.
“We must unite as one ‘Team Japan’ and work together to achieve this goal,” Setoguchi said.
- Japan’s networks compete fiercely at home, which keeps the focus on domestic ratings.
- Korea aligned producers, platforms and policy around a long-term content export strategy.
- Global streamers now license and commission K-content as a default category, not a one-off bet.
TBS’s international test
TBS has already moved beyond talk. Its studio The Seven has placed series such as Alice in Borderland on Netflix, Yu Yu Hakusho on Netflix, Song of the Samurai on TBS, U-Next and HBO Max, and Rock, Paper, Landmine on Prime Video.
Over the past year the company put US$150m into Legendary Entertainment, opened a London sales office with production services firm ATS, and formed a production joint venture with Korea’s CJ ENM. Setoguchi sees the Middle East and Africa as the next growth template: TBS will “take the lead, run at full speed and carve out the path” before sharing what it learns with the rest of the industry.
Why it matters
For media planners and content buyers, a unified J-content brand would change how Japanese titles are pitched, packaged and budgeted. Setoguchi’s sequencing is also worth watching: grow the market first, then compete for share.
“We must now grow the market from scratch, then, after that, compete for market share,” he said.
The test is whether Japanese rivals can share intelligence in practice, not just in a panel. If TBS can demonstrate demand in Africa and the Middle East, it could give other networks a reason to follow rather than fight.
What buyers should watch
- Whether Japanese broadcasters share market intelligence in emerging regions.
- Whether the J-content label appears in pitch decks and format catalogues.
- How TBS’s Middle East and Africa pilots perform as proof of demand.
For companies selling into or buying from Japan, the shift is a signal. If ‘J-content’ becomes a recognised category like K-content, it is easier to attach budgets, co-productions and licensing slates to it.
Source: C21media
