WOWOW and NTT Docomo Rebuild Lemino Together: A Broadcaster-Telco Bet on Japan’s Streaming Market

Japan’s paid-video market is about to blur the line between broadcasting and telecommunications a little further. WOWOW and NTT Docomo plan to operate the streaming service Lemino as a joint business from October 1 through a company expected to be named WOWOW Lemino Inc. WOWOW is set to hold 51% and Docomo 49%. The Lemino brand will remain, but the economics behind it are being rebuilt.^[1][3]

The September 24 plan calls for Lemino to add WOWOW content including UEFA Champions League football, the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships, more than 100 past and current WOWOW original dramas, and music programming. Lemino Premium’s standard web/shop price is planned to remain ¥1,540 a month. Docomo, meanwhile, is bringing distribution reach: roughly 110 million d POINT members and about 2,000 Docomo shops nationwide, according to the companies’ September 25 media briefing.^[1][2]

This is not a story about entering streaming

Both companies are already deep in video. WOWOW operates its satellite channels and WOWOW On Demand. Docomo has run subscription video services for years. The significance of the deal is not that either company has discovered streaming; it is that they are putting content acquisition, production, distribution, telecom customer reach, retail channels, events, merchandise and future IP development into a more integrated structure.

WOWOW’s organization changes effective October 1 make that separation visible. The company is abolishing its internal New Service Department and New Service Product Department because the new distribution service will be operated by WOWOW Lemino. WOWOW itself will continue to focus on the existing broadcast business, WOWOW On Demand and related commerce. In other words, Lemino is not being presented simply as a replacement for WOWOW On Demand, but as a separate growth engine.^[11]

From dTV to Lemino: Docomo has already rebuilt video once

Lemino itself is the product of an earlier reset. On April 12, 2023, Docomo relaunched its long-running dTV service as Lemino. At launch it promoted roughly 180,000 titles across Korean and Asian programming, anime, Japanese drama, film, music and live entertainment, along with social discovery functions built around reactions, reviews and follows. Docomo described it not merely as video-on-demand but as a “video distribution media” service designed to help viewers find what to watch.^[6]

Since then, Japan’s streaming market has remained intensely competitive. Global platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ compete with Japanese services including U-NEXT, ABEMA, Hulu, FOD and TELASA. A large library alone does not create differentiation. Premium sports rights, high-end drama and live music are expensive, while subscriber acquisition requires substantial marketing.

In February 2026, Docomo raised the standard web/shop price of Lemino Premium from ¥990 to ¥1,540 a month, citing richer content and member services. The change can be read as a shift away from competing primarily on low price toward asking customers to pay more for a stronger content proposition.^[7]

WOWOW has a strategic reason to seek a larger platform

For WOWOW, the venture also addresses a structural challenge in its traditional subscription model. In fiscal 2025, net subscriptions fell by 193,011, leaving 2,166,701 net subscriptions at year-end. In the first quarter of fiscal 2026, another 78,872 net subscriptions were lost, taking the total to 2,087,829.^[8][9]

WOWOW has been explicit that it wants an earnings structure less dependent on conventional subscription counts. In fiscal 2025, business revenue rose to 28.8% of consolidated revenue. For fiscal 2026, the company still expects net subscriptions to decline, but it is pushing a broader mix of production, licensing, pay-per-view, events, commerce and distribution products. The company has also said it expects its new streaming initiative to contribute to acquisition.^[10]

The Lemino venture fits that transition. WOWOW is trying to become more than a company that sells a monthly broadcast package. Its assets increasingly include production know-how, rights acquisition, streaming, live events, e-commerce and intellectual property. A jointly owned Lemino gives those capabilities access to a much larger distribution machine.

A ¥22.6 billion business transfer—and an estimated ¥11.5 billion 51% stake

This is much more than a content-supply agreement. In its July briefing, WOWOW said the business being transferred into the joint venture was valued at approximately ¥22.6 billion at the June 15 agreement date. WOWOW expected to acquire 51% of the new company for about ¥11.5 billion, with Docomo retaining 49%. WOWOW cautioned that those figures were based on the agreement date and could change.^[5]

Docomo is also becoming a shareholder in WOWOW itself. WOWOW plans to issue 815,800 new shares to Docomo at ¥1,031 each, raising approximately ¥841.1 million. That would give Docomo roughly 2.8% of WOWOW. The funds are earmarked for Lemino content expansion and subscriber-acquisition marketing. The cross-capital relationship makes the partnership more durable than an ordinary one-season programming deal.^[4]

WOWOW brings premium content; Docomo brings the sales funnel

WOWOW’s obvious contribution is rights and production. The September 24 announcement specifically highlighted Champions League football, the Japan Open tennis tournament, more than 100 WOWOW original dramas and music-live programming to be added progressively to Lemino. For existing Lemino Premium users, the stated plan is a larger catalog without an immediate increase in the standard monthly price.^[1]

Docomo’s contribution is reach. At the September 25 briefing, the companies pointed to around 110 million d POINT members and roughly 2,000 Docomo shops. They also described a retail-sales approach in which customer interests and demographics could be identified and used to recommend entertainment plans. Streaming economics are not only about making shows; they are also about efficiently finding people willing to pay for them.^[2]

Since February 2026, Lemino has also been included as a selectable benefit in Docomo MAX and Docomo Poikatsu MAX, allowing eligible customers to use the service without an additional Lemino charge. That kind of telecom bundling is difficult for a stand-alone streaming service to replicate.^[1]

The strategy goes beyond watching video

Both companies repeatedly use the language of “digital × real” and “fandom.” Their plan is to combine exclusive programming with advance ticket sales, limited merchandise and live events, creating more reasons for customers to remain attached to a service after a single series or sports season ends.

That addresses a familiar subscription problem. WOWOW’s own disclosures have repeatedly shown that customers often cancel when the program they joined for ends. Events, merchandise, tickets, points and communities can potentially extend the relationship beyond the viewing window. The competitive unit becomes not just a monthly catalog, but the total experience built around a piece of content.

Scale does not automatically produce profit

The alliance does not eliminate the difficult economics of streaming. Premium sports rights can rise sharply in price. Original dramas are expensive. A huge telecom membership base is valuable only if it converts into regular viewing and profitable paid relationships. A richer catalog can also increase content costs faster than revenue if acquisition and retention do not improve enough.

There is also a portfolio question. WOWOW On Demand and Lemino will coexist. If the new joint venture merely shifts existing WOWOW customers from one product to another, it will not have created new group-level demand. The harder task is to limit cannibalization while attracting people who previously paid neither WOWOW nor Lemino.

Can a broadcaster and a telecom operator create a Japanese-scale streaming platform?

WOWOW began broadcasting in 1991 as Japan’s first private satellite broadcaster and has spent 35 years building a premium programming identity around film, sports, music and drama. Docomo brings a different kind of subscription heritage: mobile billing, d Accounts, d POINT and a nationwide retail network. The venture brings together two membership businesses born in different eras.

If WOWOW Lemino starts as planned on October 1, success will not be decided on launch day. The important questions are whether WOWOW’s premium content reaches genuinely new customers through Docomo’s channels; whether Docomo’s huge member base converts into viewing and durable paid relationships; and whether Lemino becomes a distinct entertainment brand rather than merely a telecom bundle or another window for WOWOW programming.

Japan’s streaming market has moved beyond the phase in which launching an app was enough. Competitive services increasingly need four things at once: money for premium content, scale to absorb customer-acquisition costs, mechanisms that reduce churn, and the ability to turn intellectual property into multiple revenue streams. The new Lemino is one of the clearest Japanese attempts yet to assemble all four under one roof.