June 22, 2020
28 Prominent Media Companies Establish the Content Media Consortium~28 Prominent Media Companies Invest in BI.Garage and Build a Joint Advertising Platform
with the Aim of Online Media Value Creation for Media Companies~【About the Content Media Consortium】

The Content Media Consortium is established by 28 media companies that make originalcontents—they produce, edit, and provide news information and articles, as well as video and audio
content. The goal of the consortium is to jointly promote the value of content and explore the valueof advertising on the Internet. It will carry out businesses that can only be executed by a group ofpremium media companies, including a joint ad platform that provides higher-value online ads thatreflects user loyalty (including the trustworthiness of online media), brand safety evaluations foradvertisers, and synergistic effects with content, such as ad viewability.
The uniqueness of the joint ad platform lies in the fact that its premium ad platform is consistof 28 prominent Japanese media companies with about 150 media brands. It also supports adverification utilizing various solutions such as Xandr, making it a truly brand-safe, trustworthy
online advertising environment. These 28 media companies cover many viewers who interact
with media, with an active reach of roughly half (46.91%) of people who use the Internet on theirmobile devices, and roughly 30% (28.07%) of those who use it on computers*.
In addition, the platform will start providing ad serving options by different media genre at thelaunch timing. It will be expanded by the end of the fiscal year with more advanced functions thatoffer better advertising effects. These may include charges by viewable impressions and full video
views, as well as options based on user content preferences to ensure privacy in the post-cookie
era.
【Brand safety and content value】

Since the Japan Premium Media Consortium was founded in 2017, it has performed research on
topics including visualization of media company evaluations, as well as synergistic effects between
content and advertising, through panel surveys, studies on how user attitudes change through contact
with ads, and neuro research. To that end, it will promote 2 projects – brand safety verification andmedia check-up, by collaborating with all participating media companies at the commercialization
timing.

◎ Brand safety media verification
In collaboration with Video Research Ltd., participating media companies are interviewed about
their brand safety initiatives to verify if they have established brand-safe structures. Reports are
made to external parties (advertisers, advertising companies, and industry organizations).
◎ Media check-up
A fixed-point panel survey is conducted annually with subjects who had contact with the target
media outlets. This confirms the affiliations, lifestyles, and information awareness of the subjects, aswell as their evaluations of the media contents and ads they encounter. Reports are made to externalparties (advertisers, advertising companies, and industry organizations).
By conducting the above 2 projects on a regular basis, the consortium aims to build a safe, secure,and trustworthy online advertising environment for online media is provided.
【Collaboration with overseas publisher consortium】

Since the establishment of Japan Premium Media Consortium, it has been conducting trend
research on premium publishers in other countries. One facet of this is building relationships andexchanging opinions and point of views with European premium publishers, as well as thepublisher alliances they are part of.
Skyline is an alliance of 16 digital media brands from two major publishers in France. In addition,AdAlliance is an alliance of 72 media brands—including print, digital, TV, and radio—from fivemajor German publishers.
According to the case studies of Skyline and AdAlliance, it has proven that these publisher
alliances are one highly effective way to stand against global digital media companies like Googleand Facebook. They encourage publisher business growth through brand safety in digitaladvertising, ad products across multiple media brands, and ad products utilizing audience data incompliance with data regulations. They are also taking measures for new regulations such as GDPRand CCPA.
The consortium will continue collaborating with overseas publishers and publisher alliances torapidly grasp trends in the global media industry, and to offer more of the solutions needed byJapanese advertisers and premium publishers.

■Comment from overseas publisher consortium

Ad Alliance, Germany
Arne Steinmetz, General Director Client Services & Data
We look at the activities of the Japan Content Media Consortium with great respect and joyand wish all participants the very best. In these challenging times, creating quality content ismore important than ever. As an advertising alliance from Germany, we can say to our friends:
fascinating and exciting times lie ahead of you. Bundling and building further expertise andsharing knowledge in an alliance is a great experience. New horizons and new opportunities openup, on the basis of which the future can be shaped very successfully. Good luck and have fun on
this exciting journey!
Through above mentioned ways, it will contribute establishing a position as the main media insociety, and promote building a digital media environment that can maintain quality, together withparticipating media companies.
The premium media company consortium project is conducted by BI.Garage, Inc. (HQ: Tokyo;President: Naohiko Iwai; BI.Garage), a subsidiary of Digital Garage, Inc., with funding from 28
media companies.
■Companies participating in the Content Media Consortium（no particular order）

TOYO KEIZAI INC.

The Asahi Shimbun Company

THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN

Nikkei Inc.

THE NISHINIPPON SHIMBUN CO.,LTD.

Kodansha Ltd.

SHUEISHA Inc.

The Mainichi Newspapers Co.,LtdSANKEI DIGITAL Inc.

The Hokkaido Shimbun PressTHE CHUNICHI-SHIMBUN

Jiji Press, Ltd.

DIAMOND,Inc.

PRESIDENT Inc.

linkties co.,ltd.

Impress Corporation

The Orangepage Inc.

Kobunsha Co., Ltd.

BUNGEISHUNJU LTD.

Japan Business Press Co., Ltd.

Mediagene Inc.

Asahi Television Broadcasting Corporation

J-WAVE,INC.

SHOGAKUKAN inc.

MAGAZINE HOUSE CO.,LTD.

CCC Media House Co., Ltd.

Fuji Television Network, Inc.

TV TOKYO Communications Corporation

■Comment from the chief executive

TOYO KEIZAI INC.
Hiroaki Takita, Managing Director
As COVID-19 drastically transforms society, the biggest requirement of media companies is toprovide trustworthy content. After Japan declared a state of emergency, the number of visitors has
rapidly increased to media websites that do their own coverage and write, edit, and post originalcontent.
However, these companies lack a solid base for promoting digital business compared to majortech companies that have their own platforms. In addition to the growth in subscription models, thefuture advertising will continue to be a major source of revenue for digital media companies.
28 prominent Japanese media companies have set aside their minor differences to form theContent Media Consortium. As this release states, I am confident that this is a trustworthy
consortium that can reach many active users. We will utilize our knowledge to provide added value
for advertising that only we can offer as a way to fulfill the expectations of advertisers. I kindly ask
for your support in this endeavor.
■Comments from participating media companies

The Asahi Shimbun Company
Hiroshi Ieguchi, Associate Director, Digital Services Innovation Division
The media companies that endorsed and joined this project have been providing highly reliable,
excellent content to users and new advertising value to advertisers. Through this consortium, I am
confident that we can offer more premium value, which was difficult for individual companies torealize by themselves. We will strive to leverage the expertise and strengths of each company—aswell as increasingly advanced digital technologies—to offer services that are favored by both usersand advertisers.
THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN
Yoshinori Ikegami, MANAGER SPECIAL AD DESIGN DEPARTMENT, YOMIURI BRAND
STUDIO Chief Producer
We established YOMIURI BRAND STUDIO, a consortium of THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN andcreative companies, in 2018. Now we are participating in this new consortium together with othernewspaper companies in the same industry, magazine companies, and more.

The most important element that traditional media companies can offer is the trustworthiness they
have cultivated over many years, in both the ad production and digital advertising fields. Throughthis project, I hope to offer solutions for brand safety and other digital advertising issues.
Nikkei Inc.
Eiichi Otsuka, General Manager, Media Business Unit, Digital Business
Digital transformation in society is accelerating due to the COVID-19 outbreak. There is no point
in discussing whether something is “real” or “digital”—a new normal is arriving in which weleverage the unique characteristics of both. However, many people have been thrown into this oceanof digital transformation without sufficient preparation. Many are struggling because they lacktechniques for determining if information is genuine and ascertaining its value. The media
companies in this consortium have major responsibilities in this era. We are striving to provide
highly trustworthy information, user experiences, and advertising platforms at a high dimension.
THE NISHINIPPON SHIMBUN CO.,LTD.
Kosuke Yoshimura, CORPRATE OFFICER DIRECTOR, Media Business Bureau
Local newspapers have built strong relationships of trust with regional consumers throughimpartial, accurate news and ad information. In the online society, they are also enhancing theirengagement with nationwide audiences through regional content. We provide assistance for brandcommunication between the audiences and advertisers in our network with trust. We will work withother participating media companies to make the consortium’s projects become a new default
standard for online advertising.
Kodansha Ltd.
Nobuyasu Suzuki, Deputy Executive Director, Media Business Department, Rights/MediaBusiness Division
With the establishment of the Content Media Consortium, I hope to provide a safe, secure, andtrustworthy advertising environment together with other participating companies to promptly offer
support for the post-cookie era based on media value—namely, user loyalty and high evaluations ofbrand safety by advertisers.
SHUEISHA Inc.
Megumi Tanaka, Executive Director
I previously felt that the role of media companies is to reliably provide useful information andinspiring content to readers, and this remains unchanged even in the current digital era. People aredemanding even higher quality in our digital world, and I believe transparency is important. I expect

that we can build a trustworthy, healthy advertising environment through the formation of thisconsortium linking media companies.
■Comment from BI.Garage

Kaoru Hayashi, Representative Director, President Executive Officer and Group CEO, Digital
Garage, Inc., Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at BI.Garage, Inc.
Digital Garage Group sets the new concept, “Designing our New Normal Context” as a new Midterm Plan for the next five years. After almost 2 years of preparation period, Content MediaConsortium is finally going to start in 2020. Under the pandemic crisis, I recognize this consortium
is highly inevitable to achieve social responsibility. I believe it will play an active role to support“New Normal Context” in the next generation Internet culture in Japan, to further develop healthy
media industry and provide better digital experience to users. Collaborating with prominent Japanesequality media companies, advertisers and users, we aim to create sustainable business model that cancontribute to make a better society by utilizing technologies to balance a proper equilibrium andkeep an appropriate distance with platform giants.
*Source: Nielsen Research, Special tabulation of relevant media based on April 2020 data

【Questions about this press release】

Content Media Consortium, BI.Garage, Inc.
Email: pr@bi.garage.co.jp
Corporate Communication Dept., Digital Garage, Inc.
Email: dg4819.pr@garage.co.jp