Amazon Strikes First-Of-Its-Kind Deals With Japan’s Nippon TV & BBC Podcasts

deadline.com:

Amazon has struck first-of-its-kind deals with Japan’s Nippon TV and BBC for podcasts. The former tie-up will see Nippon’s ACMA: GAME drama series stream on Prime Video Japan starting April 7, immediately after Nippon TV’s Sunday primetime air slot, with global streaming of the series to follow on Prime Video two weeks later.

Hulu Japan will also stream the series immediately after Nippon TV’s broadcast as part of the unusual deal. Based on the popular manga of the same name written by Meeb (Brave Bell) and illustrated by Koji Megumi (Bloody Monday), ACMA: GAME takes place in a devil’s world where the challenge is to conquer the world by collecting 99 devil’s keys.

Players are forced to participate, and if they lose, they cannot refuse any orders. The protagonist challenges the game risking his life, along with the people who are being manipulated by the devil’s key.

The deal is Nippon’s first with a global streamer and was brokered by Keisuke Miyata, Head of Sales, Global Business, Nippon TV. “Japan is known for exhilarating manga, but this one is exceptional,” said Nippon producer Naoto Fujimura. “Audiences crave psychological death game battles like Kaiji, Death Note or Squid Game, and this has become a production of an incredible scale that Nippon TV will deliver to the world with confidence.” The producer added that lead Shotaro Mamiya has “unfathomable talent that is perfect to portray this epoch-making series that will surely thrill the global audience.” BBC podcast deal Meanwhile, Amazon has struck a deal with the BBC that will for the first time see the corporation’s podcasts made available for streaming outside the UK.