Disney+ continues to grow its subscribers in Japan, as according to some new data from consultancy firm Media Partners Asia and its proprietary AMPD Research Platform, between July and September 2022, Disney+ became the third most popular streaming service in Japan.

Amazon Prime Video is currently the most subscribed platform, with 16.5 million subscribers, with Netflix following behind with 7 million subscribers. Disney+ now has 3.6 million subscribers in Japan at the end of September, overtaking Hulu Japan (which is owned by Nippon Television rather than Disney.)

During the last quarter, subscriptions grew by 1.1 million across the whole country, with a total of 49.4 million SVOD subscriptions between all the platforms. Japan has a population of 125.7 million people.

One of the reasons why Disney+ continues to grow in Japan according to Media Partners Asia is due to marketing and promotional discounts, in addition to content for kids, Korean dramas, and more tentpole franchises in the quarter.

“Anime is a defining attribute of premium video streaming in Japan, accounting for 44% of premium video consumption in Q3 2022. Korean content has a significant subscriber acquisition impact on Netflix and Disney+, driving an outsize 26% of new user consumption, while licensed live-action content is particularly important on Hulu Japan and U-Next”

Vivek Couto, Media Partners Asia’s managing partner, said in a statement to Deadline:

Ex-Disney+, SVOD growth in Japan was relatively flat over Q2 and Q3. Amazon Prime Video continues to lead the category, followed by Netflix, both leveraging large, non-exclusive anime libraries to drive consumption. Local TV consortium and AVOD platform TVer continues to grow its share of premium video consumption, meeting demand for TV livestreams and catch-up of popular variety and drama programming.

Licensed TV content also drives subscriber acquisition on Hulu Japan and U-Next. Notably, Korean dramas play an outsize role in subscriber acquisition for Netflix and Disney+, providing competitive differentiation amidst largely non-exclusive anime libraries. Disney+ has also started to build an exclusive anime library, underscoring strategies towards content differentiation in a maturing SVOD environment.”

For the latest Disney+ news, follow us on TwitterFacebook, and Instagram.



Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

Related Article