Californian-based video services provider Ooyala has announced today a massive deal with the Yahoo! Corporation of Japan that will see the two companies jointly market Ooyala’s video solutions to broadcasters, publishers and enterprise users throughout the second largest online video market in the world.
The multi-year agreement gives the American company access to Yahoo! Japan’s audience, which makes up 60% of the entire country’s internet users, according to estimates. In a video statement released by Ooyala, CEO Jay Fulcher said,
We’re really excited about the potential of what we think this relationship can be… It’s one of the largest, if not the largest, deals that’s been done in the industry to this point. It’s going to allow us to exploit not only our technology, but to distribute our technology and provide us very broad access to the Japanese market.
According to Fulcher, online video consumption is growing at a rate of 25% per year in Japan, with over 60 million adults watching video for an average of around 12 hours a month. The deal will see Yahoo! Japan – only 35% of which is owned by Yahoo!, with majority ownership held by Softbank – sell and provide content for Ooyala’s video platform, as well as providing support for users. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
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