Partners will work together on Formats from Nippon TV’s new production arm, Gyokuro Studio
(L-R: Tom Miyauchi, Head of the newly established Nippon TV Los Angeles Business Office (launching in July) and Matt Hornburg, Co-President, Blue Ant Studios)
(Tokyo and Toronto) – June 5, 2025 – Nippon TV, Japan’s leading multiplatform entertainment powerhouse, and international studio and rights business, Blue Ant Studios, jointly announced today that they have agreed to enter into a strategic partnership to expand development and production of Nippon TV Gyokuro Studio’s unscripted formats in the North American market. The partnership builds on the success of Blue Ant Studios’ adaptation of Nippon TV’s global hit format Old Enough!, including its first season in Canada and a highly anticipated second season planned for TVO and its YouTube channel.
Nippon TV and Blue Ant Studios both have a strong track record in unscripted formats: Nippon TV with global hits like Dragons’ Den/Shark Tank, Old Enough!, Silent Library and Eye Candy; and Blue Ant Studios with Race Against the Tide (recently adapted for BBC Factual and BBC Scotland), All-Round Champion (an NRK format now in its sixth season), The Jury (a BAFTA-winning ScreenDog format, globally distributed by Blue Ant Studios and recently optioned in the US and Canada), Blown Away (Netflix) and other originals. Building on their combined track leadership, the partnership aims to capitalize on the collective expertise of both companies to create and adapt innovative unscripted formats for North American audiences.
The two companies will collaborate to further develop and ready original formats from Gyokuro Studio, Nippon TV’s new production arm for marketability to the North American market. The partnership will be spearheaded by Tom Miyauchi, Head of the newly established Nippon TV Los Angeles Business Office (launching in July), alongside Matt Hornburg, Co-President and Diane Rankin, EVP, Content Development & Commercial Strategy, both of Blue Ant Studios.
Quote from Tom Miyauchi, Vice President of Nippon TV International and Head of Nippon TV LA Business Office:
“Building on the warm reception of Old Enough! in Canada, we see a tremendous opportunity to further localize and expand our global footprint in unscripted formats, and we are proud to announce our strategic partnership with Blue Ant Studios. As a proven force in the content industry, Blue Ant brings invaluable expertise and a strong track record of success in North America and the world. By joining forces, we aim to blend their creativity and market-winning insight with Nippon TV’s original format ideas. This partnership marks a meaningful step in our efforts to deliver distinctive Japanese creativity with both local and global sensibilities to audiences around the world—an exciting collaboration that aligns perfectly with our vision of ‘Creating Global Entertainment’ at Nippon TV LA.”
Quote from Matt Hornburg, Co-President, Blue Ant Studios:
“Blue Ant Studios and Nippon TV share a like-minded vision for broad, four-quadrant entertainment formats with global resonance. As our streaming and network partners continue to ask for ambitious, high-impact content, this collaboration supports our strategic focus on scalable IP with international potential. Piloting innovative ideas in select global markets before introducing them to North America is a model we see gaining traction and one we’re excited to build upon.”
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ABOUT NIPPON TV
Nippon TV is Japan’s leading multiplatform entertainment powerhouse, as well as owner of streaming giant Hulu in Japan. Nearly 90% of its content IP is fully owned by Nippon TV and the company has been active in bringing its content to the international market in the form of anime, ready-made programs, formats, and through co-production partnerships. One of the biggest successes for the nation’s finest producer of all genres of programming is the Emmy Award-winning Dragons’ Den/Shark Tank, a globally successful business show format that has 52 versions in more than 186 countries across all continents of the world. Additionally, their award-winning drama series Mother has also achieved global success as the most exported scripted format out of Asia, with its format sales to South Korea, Turkey, Ukraine, France, Thailand, China, Spain, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, The Philippines, and Greece. The company is also known for its viewer-engaging show Old Enough!, streaming on Netflix in over 190 countries and adapted in Mongolia and Canada, BLOCK OUT, an action-packed game show format that has been adapted in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Spain, and the Netherlands, the award-winning unscripted format Sokkuri Sweets, produced as Eye Candy for The Roku Channel in the US, UK, Canada and the Netherlands for NPO1. Launched in 2025, Gyokuro Studio is its in-house production arm and Nippon TV LA Business Office is the global co-development and sales headquarters, both dedicated to unscripted formats. Nippon TV has also been producing anime series since the 1950s and acquired Studio Ghibli in 2023, making the Academy Award-winning studio its subsidiary. As evident by the company’s success, Nippon TV is leveraging its coveted platform to revolutionize digital media in an ever-changing industry to solidify its presence and brand as a global media leader. Nippon TV website⼁LinkedIn ⼁Nippon TV LA Business Office ⼁Gyokuro
ABOUT BLUE ANT STUDIOS
Blue Ant Studios is an international production studio and rights business with operations in Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, London, Singapore and Sydney. The company’s diverse production slate spans scripted comedy and drama, unscripted entertainment, formats, high-impact documentaries, live-action kids + family, and animation.The studio is anchored in original storytelling, with award-winning content, with standout titles including Blown Away (Netflix), Canada’s Drag Race (Crave), Davey and Jonesie’s Locker (Hulu and Prime Video), Slaycation (Crave), Northwoods Survival/Hard North (APTN, Nat Geo, Prime Video), Drink Masters (Netflix), Race Against the Tide (CBC), Doomlands (Roku), and the upcoming animated preschool series Tralala (CBC, Sky NZ). The company’s recent feature-length documentary, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe (Prime Video), was awarded the Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award for Best Documentary. Blue Ant Studios’ distribution arm has a vast catalogue of nearly 8000 hours of premium programming from the studio and third-party, top-tier producers around the world. Blue Ant Studios is a subsidiary of the global media company, Blue Ant Media. blueantmedia.com⼁Instagram⼁LinkedIn