U-NEXT President Yasuhide Uno’s Turning Point: From 100 Million Yen Losses to a Remarkable Comeback

Shutting down the business was never going to happen

Uno first launched the free video streaming service “GyaO,” but was forced to let it go following the Lehman Shock.

“Around the same time, we had also quietly started a subscription-based paid service called ‘GyaO NEXT,’ which is now U-NEXT. Financial institutions pressured us to sell this business as well, and although we began the sale process, no buyers emerged. The only option left was to shut down the service, but I thought that would be too much of a waste.”

Determined not to let the business die, Uno made the decision to personally invest his own money and buy it out.

The financial institution representatives bluntly dismissed the idea, saying, 

“There’s no way that will ever be a hit.” 

At the time, U-NEXT was losing one billion yen per month. Friends and colleagues advised Uno to step down from management.

“Some people told me, ‘You’ve worked hard enough and suffered enough. There’s no need to put yourself through more hardship.’ But about 300 staff members had left the old USEN to follow me. I felt it was my responsibility, and I switched gears entirely, deciding I had no choice but to continue.”

At 47, Uno was once again launching a venture from scratch. The challenges were overwhelming: securing video content, overcoming technical issues, ensuring smooth streaming, and preventing illegal copying.

Perhaps because of these hurdles, there were no significant competitors in Japan at the time. Still, Uno was convinced that the business would succeed.

“I had no doubts. I believed that the era of watching videos via streaming services would definitely come. I just didn’t know when. The question was whether we could survive long enough to see it.”

Subscriber numbers steadily grew, and within just three years of becoming an independent company, U-NEXT became profitable. Four years later, in 2014, the company went public, marking Uno’s third successful IPO. U-NEXT’s growth accelerated from there.

“I believe there were two key factors that sparked our growth. One was the explosive adoption of smartphones, which made it easier for people to watch videos. The second was the COVID-19 pandemic. With more free time, even people who hadn’t been familiar with streaming services began to try it out. It was a turning point for streaming services to become more widely accepted nationwide.”

Of course, the quality of U-NEXT’s service played a major role in its success. One key strategy was what Uno calls the “department store strategy”—offering a vast selection of content.

“One thing users often tell us is, ‘I couldn’t find this title anywhere else, but U-NEXT had it.’ That’s why we have no plans to change this model. Our goal is to offer everything that can be digitized, not just films and TV shows but also books and other content.”

Competition with overseas giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video has intensified, with many rivals focusing on producing original content. However, Uno has a different approach.

“When you look at the production of visual works, an incredible number of films are being made. Many movies, even those made with great effort and resources, only have a short run in theaters. I think it’s more important to provide a platform where these overlooked works can still be seen.”