Case Study: Fuji Television delivers Japan’s first 24-hour paid Internet TV network with Microsoft Azure

Fuji Television NEXTsmart, Japan’s first 24-hour paid Internet television network with regular programming, runs in the cloud

Fuji Television Network launched NEXTsmart in March 2014 as Japan’s first 24-hour paid Internet television network, offering simulcast premium channels, multiscreen viewing and a “Missed It” VOD service. The company faced the challenge of building a highly reliable, always-on internet broadcast platform that could minimize operational burden, handle sudden traffic spikes, and scale for future UHDTV services.

Fuji moved the service to Microsoft Azure in partnership with EVC, using Azure Media Services, Azure CDN and EVC’s Bizlat management and Active Client Switch to centralize operations, enable server-directed stream switching, and simplify content management. The cloud solution delivered regional datacenters, pay-as-you-go scalability and built-in encoding/content protection, resulting in stable 24/7 operation, reduced admin load, the ability to absorb sudden demand (subscribers rose ~20% in about 40 minutes for a live match), and readiness for 4K/8K broadcasts.

Fuji Television

Masatoshi Kubota

General Manager, Pay TV