WOWOW Names New Chairman, President

WOWOW, Japan's leading premium pay TV broadcaster, today revealed senior level management changes catalyzed by the company's growth and applied to advance its ongoing strategic initiatives.

Mr. Nobuya Wazaki has been appointed Chairman of WOWOW after running the company for the last eight years, seven of which as President. Among the long list of impressive accomplishments during Mr. Wazaki's tenure as President are the seamless transition from analog to digital in 2011; the creation of three new full hi- definition channels for the company, also in 2011; and a record set for highest number of subscribers in the company's history (2.77million). In his role as Chairman, Mr. Wazaki will continue to have full managerial oversight of the company.

Taking over for Mr. Wazaki as President of WOWOW is Mr. Akira Tanaka, a successful and highly respected television executive who joins the company from SKY Perfect JSAT Holdings Inc where he held the title of Senior Director, as well as President and Representative Director of subsidiary SKY Perfect Entertainment Corporation. Previously, Mr. Tanaka was an executive at Nippon Television Holdings, Inc.

Commenting on the appointment of Mr. Tanaka to President, Mr. Wazaki said, "We warmly welcome Mr. Akira Tanaka who brings deep knowledge of both network TV and pay services through his experiences working in both industries. As we look ahead to 2020, we see that Mr. Tanaka will enhance our structure for future expansion"

In other departmental moves involving the company's senior executive team, Hajime Hashimoto was promoted to Senior Managing Director, responsible for corporate strategy; Kazuhito Sato was promoted to Senior Managing Director, responsible for investor relations, finance and accounting; and Ichiro Yamazaki was promoted to Executive Managing Director, responsible for human resources, general affairs and compliance.

All executive staffing changes will take effect on June 23rd, 2015 following WOWOW's shareholders' meeting.

These executive moves and appointments reflect WOWOW's commitment to an initiative the company has created called VISION2020. WOWOW believes that BETWEEN now and 2020 (the year in which Japan will host the Summer Olympic games) the way in which people enjoy visual content, and how they consume the content, will be change dramatically. WOWOW pledges to remain at the forefront of this movement through its VISION2020 campaign.

A pillar of VISION2020 is an "Entertainment & Engagement" campaign whereby WOWOW will pursue tailored creative entertainment options for close to seven million people who want to have a say in the specialized, high quality programs as opposed to general entertainment that the entire country (127 million) could potentially enjoy.

Through VISION2020, WOWOW will change its relationship with its subscribers and members. The company previously had a one-way relationship sending content to subscribers of WOWOW, but is now developing an interactive relationship.

The company is not only making a strong connection BETWEEN WOWOW and its members, but also creating communities among members who have deeper knowledge about the entertainment to enhance their interest in high quality entertainment that WOWOW will keep providing.

The executive shifts demonstrate the company's nimbleness as it adapts to industry and customer shifts and builds on eight years of continuous net growth in subscribers.