WOWOW ANNOUNCES SENIOR MANAGEMENT CHANGE

WOWOW, Japan’s leading premium pay TV broadcaster, today revealed senior level management changes catalyzed by the company’s growth and applied to advance its ongoing strategic initiatives.

Five new members have been elected to WOWOW’s Board of Directors. They include three executives who have joined WOWOW from outside companies: Hideki Tashiro, who joins the company from TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System Television), will oversee both the programming and production capacities at WOWOW; Masahiko Mizuguchi, who joins the company from Pony Canyon (a subsidiary of Fuji Television Network) will assume oversight of the company’s Business & Entertainment Development Division ; and Kenji Noshi, who joins the company from Shizuoka Daiichi Television (a local network of Nippon Television Network Cooperation), will manage the company’s Engineering and Information and Communication Technology divisions.

Meanwhile, two newly elected board members have been promoted from within WOWOW. They are Junichi Onoue, who oversees Investor Relations, Finance and Accounting and Strategy Integration; and Hitoshi Yamamoto, who oversees Human Resources and General Affairs.

Reelected Board members include WOWOW’s President, Akira Tanaka, who has held the top role at WOWOW for the last four years; Noriaki Kuromizu who holds the position of Executive Vice President, and Ichiro Yamazaki who is Senior Managing Director now overseeing WOWOW’s marketing division.

Board member staffing changes took effect on June 20, 2019 following WOWOW’s shareholders' meeting.

Changes to the board reflect the company’s strategy to differentiate itself from competitors via strong content, maximize business through both its main subscription business and B2B sales of original content, promote ICT initiatives via the WOWOW Members On Demand service and grow the WOWOW group through operational reforms and synergy creation. The dynamic executive shifts aim for an organization that can nimbly and flexibly address a rapidly changing business environment and approach new challenges uninhibited by precedents and reinforcement of the company’s content creativity by bringing in executives with great experience and insight in the Japanese television industry.