Chapter 5

Non-Financial CapitalTBS’s Non-financial Capital and Strengths
TBS has always focused on strengthening its three main non-financial assets of Creation, through which it makes
timeless, high-quality content; Reach, which brings it direct multi-platform contact to viewers, listeners and customers via the airwaves, theater performance, and in retail shops; and Trust, which has been accumulated by observing society and the times.

When we renewed the TBS brand in 2020, we investigatedand adopted the concept of redefining our company’s ideal
as “Personality,” much like any individual. With input fromoutside opinions, we came up with the following words to express what we have worked on, and what we have achieved:Intelligent, Honest, Energetic, and Filled with a Spirit of Challenge. This character and way of thinking are the driving
force behind all of TBS’s non-financial capital.
The core is People Power. Placing as its main pillar acquiring and training professional human resources (human capital), the company has built a wide range of partnerships cultivated through content production (social and relationshipcapital), has collected a stock of IP through active researchNon-financial CapitalInternal Strength

Human
CapitalOutstanding people to create
the wonderful “moments”

Intellectual
CapitalContent andproprietary technologies

Manufactured
CapitalSites that create content

NaturalCapitalPromotion of green energy

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TBS Group Integrated Report 2021

Improving TBS Quality
through TGU, a in-house
university that cultivates
greater sensitivity andknowledge

A vast array of content andthe technology tocreate more
Digital technology beyond
broadcasting

TBS’s studios, theaters, andother facilities for creating
and delivering original
entertainment

Content created withgreen energy
The wonderful “moments”
for the earth, as well• Promoting: Young directors and producers having an impact
on production• Human resources development: Holding a wide range oftraining courses through the in-house institution TBS Group
University (TGU)• Training: Thorough training for staff with a focus on humanrights• Recruitment: Career-oriented hiring for professionals invarious fields (lawyers, CPAs, tax accountants, SEs, etc.)• Specialist skills for content creation(Expertise in interviewing, composition, editing, script
writing, direction, and more)• Copyright portfolio built through content creation• Expertise in content transmission and delivery built on acore of broadcasting technology• Marketing knowledge, including advertising effectiveness• Proprietary technology (Mojiko, a transcription editor thatuses AI voice recognition, has won various awards including
the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award)

and development, including proprietary technology and accumulated video archives (intellectual capital), and studios,
editing facilities, and theaters for production (manufactured
capital). TBS is also constantly examining and improving onearth-friendly business practices (natural capital).
Through these non-financial capital, we “create” content, “reach” people’s lives using diverse platforms, including the publicly funded airwaves allotted to us, our own
theaters, and shops; and hope to continue building Trustby engaging with society and listening with sincerity to diverse voices. We look to deliver the wonderful “moments”
to everyone through the three strengths of Creation - Reach- Trust.

Strength 1

Outside Strength

Creation
Social and Relationship
Capitalof content that ispassed down andrefined throughthe generations

Collaboration with partners

Strength 2

Longstanding partnerships
Newly developed Co-creation
And a network with local stations

Reachthrough diverse platforms,
including broadcasting,theater, and stores• As a broadcaster, TBS Broadcast Center has functions forthe full range of broadcast needs, with studios for live
broadcast and recording, as well as editing and transmission
facilities• Midoriyama Studio City, a content production specialist
studio• TBS Akasaka ACT Theater and IHI Stage Around Tokyo• One million kWh of the power used every year at TBS
Broadcast Center is green electricity• T he 6th of every month is named Green Electricity
Promotion Day, and all the electricity used for broadcastingthat day is green• TBS Akasaka ACT Theater, Akasaka Sacas Plaza, and TBS
Radio Toda Transmitting Station are all operated using
100% renewable energy• Partnerships with performers, production
companies, entertainment agencies,
original authors, scriptwriters, etc.
established around content creation• Co-creation with partner and companies
funded by TBS for new business ventures• Two robust broadcasting networks, withthe 28-station Japan News Network(JNN) on television and 34-station Japan
Radio Network (JRN) on radio• Trusting relationships with viewers,
listeners, and customers

Strength 3

Trustaccumulated byobserving society
and the times

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Chapter 5

Non-Financial CapitalTBS’s Human Resources (Human Capital)

Outstanding people to create thewonderful “moments”
One of the foundational elements we offered for the TBS Group Medium-Term Management Plan 2023 is “enhance organizational strength through creative, challenge oriented human resources,” and so we will strive tobuild up the human resources, develop job satisfaction and skills, and build an organization that produces real results. We are also promoting initiatives to revitalize the organization, pass on skills, provide active training throughTGU and other means, and increase the percentage of female managers.

The Characteristics and Strengths of TBS’s Human Resources

Human resources full of sensibility and knowledge
Actively promoting young directors andproducers
TBS values the ideals of inheritance and creation in the production studio. Rather than relying solely on the personalabilities of individual outstanding creators, we encourage inheritance—the sharing of expertise from senior employees—
while newer hires create content by refining that inheritancethrough modern sensibilities.
In the variety show area, which requires younger sensibilities, eight of our regular programs have producers who
have joined the company since 2010, and at least 10 one-off
programs in the past year have had similarly new producers
or directors.
In the drama area, programs with producers and directors who joined the company from 2009 on (10, of which 8
were women) reached 14, including the much-talked-about
Sannin no Papa which was produced by woman in her thirdyear with the company.

Women in the Newsroom
The number of women serving as senior editors in the TBS
News Division, with the authority to determine program direction and news items, has increased significantly in recent
years.
Five of the eight editors-in-chief of the weekday evening
program N-ST and the evening program News23 are women. Most of them have been with the company for around25 years, but the youngest woman editor-in-chief has been
here for 16 years.
All offer full support of daily news program production

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TBS Group Integrated Report 2021

with their extensive experience in interviewing and production.
The editor-in-chief of the News Special broadcast on
Saturday is also a woman. Another woman, who joined thecompany in 1999, is in charge of news digital development,
an increasingly important field in recent times.
The world of news reporting has had an identified bias
toward patriarchal social values, but TBS has been engaged
in rapid reform to counter that.

Hiring employees with diverse backgrounds
Beyond hiring highly qualified people like certified public accountants and lawyers, TBS actively recruits those with diverse
backgrounds from various industries for career positions.
Career hires from prominent IT companies, electronics
manufacturers, and trading companies are involved in business strategy planning; a former electric power company
employee is involved in the live entertainment division; anda former professional baseball player (a first-round draftpick) is in the sales division. In the news bureau, we havegathered reporters from leading weekly magazines, newspapers, and other media with different reporting methods
to add coverage depth, and one reporter who previously
worked as a Shinkansen driver provides accurate commentary on railroad accidents.
New college-graduates hires include a licensed doctor
who helps with a medical drama, and a licensed pharmacist working in the TBS Programming Division, each of thembringing new perspectives to various areas of the TBS business.

TBS’s Human Resource Strategy

Honing greater sensibility and knowledge

TBS Group Medium-Term Management Plan 2023
Management Infrastructure
Enhance organizational strength through creative,
challenge oriented human resources
Build up the human resources, develop job satisfaction
and skills, and build an organization that produces real
results• Expand career employees with specialist knowledge &capabilities•Train and acquire group creative employees for the EDGE
strategy• Secure digital talent for a more flexible, capableorganization

Raise growth potential for the TBS Group as a whole
Enhance the sense of unity within the TBS Group
Foster a culture of innovation
As a comprehensive media group, TBS is engaged in the
broadcasting, video, culture, video streaming, real estate,and shopping businesses. As we further spread our wings toward a new age, we have positioned as some of our mostimportant tasks the hiring and training of human resources
for active roles in every field.
We are focusing on hiring employees who can embody
our new management philosophy and brand promise. Not
only is our orientation toward the television business strong,but our selection criteria aims for people willing to take on
new challenges beyond the framework of television.
In development, we provide group training for different
employee classes when they join the company, then in theirsecond, third, fifth, and eighth years, and at the age of 35.
Together with regular individual interviews, we support thegrowth and ambition of each employee toward their own

career. As part of the various training programs for managers, we conduct Next Generation Leader Training and Department Manager Selection Training sessions, which focus
on the development of management-level employees, andthe results of which are presented directly to top management.
In 2018, we opened the TBS Group University (TGU), thecenterpiece of our human resources development program.
TGU provides selective learning opportunities for 6,000 people working as a part of TBS. It aims to raise growth potential
for the TBS Group as a whole, enhance the sense of unity
within the TBS Group, and foster a culture of innovation.
The underlying principle for this training is to nurture everyone working as a part of TBS who can adapt to a rapidlychanging environment in order to continue to contribute tosociety and achieve sustainable growth for the TBS Group.
TGU offers a wide variety of programs, including various
courses essential for advanced business; broadcasting, media, and human rights courses closely related to daily operations; lectures from invited guests; courses offered jointlywith other companies; and overseas study tours. 4,339 students enrolled in 121 courses in FY2018, and 4,150 students
enrolled in 137 courses in FY2019. In FY2020, despite the
COVID-19 pandemic, 3,800 people enrolled in 95 courses,
which were mainly remote.
In order to develop in terms of management while stillrecognizing the highly public nature of our position, it isessential to have employees with a sense of ethics who arewilling to engage in self-led education and development.
TBS will continue to build human resources development
initiatives to nurture employees who can contribute to thecreation of a more hopeful society, and one that is more sustainable and prosperous.

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Chapter 5

Non-Financial CapitalTBS’s Intellectual Property (Intellectual Capital)

Content and original technology
TBS’s intellectual capital is built upon the vast array of content that is has created since its founding as a television
broadcaster, and now ranges far beyond the television framework. This also includes the expertise, skills, andunique technology needed to create that content. Based on our core value of delivering “the wonderful moments
to touch the heart,” we have promised in the TBS Group VISION 2030 to accelerate content production throughdigital skills.

The Characteristics and Strengths of TBS’s Intellectual Capital

Our vast array of content, and the proprietary technology wedeveloped to create it, are the two capitals most representative of TBS.
From broadcast programs to movies and stage performances, TBS’s reach has expanded beyond Japan to nations
overseas, and all the specialized skills (expertise in interviewing, composition, editing, script writing, direction, and more)
cultivated in the production process have been passed fromgeneration to generation, and are being refined on a daily basis.
TBS has a high ratio of internal production, which gives it
the advantage of a large internal skill reserve.

Content does not end with a program broadcast. It lives
on in the ongoing copyright and reaches viewers throughonline streaming, DVD sales, etc., which generates multiple
layers of revenue through overseas program sales and “format sales” (multi-use of content). Our knowledge of marketing, including the impact of advertising on content distribution, is also growing stronger every day.
TBS continues to develop its own proprietary technology for content production and delivery, and technologies
initially envisioned for its own broadcasting are increasingly
being used by other companies in the industry, as well as foracademic research.

TBS’s Patents andTrademarks

Content

Notes

Registered and Existing

18

Pending

10

Television and radio content

Including joint(Dramas, variety shows, news, sports, anime, etc.)

Patents

Performance content(Movies, theater, musicals, live music, etc.)

Media
Content

Program formats

Japan Registered and Existing120

All independently owned HD/TV/R only

Japan - Pending25

All independently owned HD/TV/R only

Overseas - Japan Registered and Existing75

All independently owned HD/TV/R only

(SCHOP Inc., etc.)

Overseas - Pending

10

All independently owned HD/TV/R only

• Specialist skills for content creation(Expertise in interviewing, composition, editing, script
writing, direction, and more)

Manga
Patents, intellectual property, and music

Trademarks

Intellectual training and education• Copyright portfolio built through content creation

Content
production
Abilities

Mojiko, the AI-based app that helps reduce transcription effort

TBS’s Intellectual Strategy

A vast array of content and the power to continue creating
Outline of TBS’s Intellectual Capital

From the information website for ultra-high speed file transfer software
STORM Ⓡ

Reinforcing and accelerating continued content production strength

TBS Group Medium-Term Management Plan 2023
Growth Strategies
Digital: Strengthen streaming and digital content
development• Growth in video streaming business and earnings
expansion• Expand the scope of news reach and monetization• Develop new digital content business

Ultra-high speed file transfer software
STORM® and AI-based transcription editor
MojikoTBS has developed and patented STOR® software. The initial
purpose was to transfer large amounts of data like video or
audio interview footage quickly and safely over ordinary internet lines, but its incredible ability to transmit a file the sizeof a full DVD in less than a minute has led to its widespread
use by not only broadcasters but also major manufacturers,
mail-order companies, medical companies, and national research institutes.
Mojiko, a patented transcription editor using an AI voicerecognition engine, was developed to free program production employees from the burden of transcribing interview
content. Mojiko has been introduced as a tool to improve
the working environment in any workplace that requires
transcription, and has received various awards including the
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award 2020 and

the IT Award from the Japan Institute of Information Technology. So, along with its content and services, TBS develops
proprietary technology that offers values beyond broadcasting to various aspects of society.

Monetizing proposals adopted from thebusiness proposal system
We have adopted two proposals each from the three past sessions of the TBS Group Business Challenge (JNN Business Challenge from 2021), and commercialization is underway. One ofthe proposals from FY2019 was for an animal content-based
educational entertainment business (Amazing Animals! YouTube Channel). As a result, TBS is now developing an educational entertainment business by optimizing for online-viewing its animal video archive, which has been gathered for
popular animal programs like Amazing Animals! and Waku
Waku Animal Land. It is not now possible to film much ofwhat TBS has stockpiled, making the archive of ecologicalfootage a highly valuable intellectual asset. This archive isbeing offered to society in a new form, as a business modelthat offers deeper understanding of biodiversity, and from
September 2020 we started theYouTube channel Amazing Animals/WAKUWAKU. In less thana year, this content has amassed
188 thousand subscribers (asof August 2021), including astrong fan base overseas, andhas monetized with some content having 3.96 million views.

• Expertise in content transmission and delivery built on acore of broadcasting technology• Marketing knowledge, including advertising effectiveness• Proprietary technology (Mojiko, a transcription editor
that uses AI voice recognition, has won various awards
including the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry
Award)

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TBS Group Integrated Report 2021

TBS Group Integrated Report 2021

45

Chapter 5

Non-Financial Capital

Co-creation with Partners (Social and Relationship Capital)
Co-Creation with the World: Steps Toward Achieving SDGs

Co-creation has been in our DNA since
our founding
Since its beginning as a broadcaster, TBS has grown through co-creation with partners. TBS has co-creation embedded in its business DNA, such that continuing its current business would be impossible without partners, who are
performers, interviewees, local stations, and outside production companies, all of which help form a network thatdelivers our broadcasts nationwide.

The Characteristics of TBS’s Social and Relationship Capital

One of the key examples of TBS’s recent co-creation projects with partners is its promotion of SDGs achievement.
In August 2019, TBS joined the UN’s SDGs Media Compact,signifying its commitment to join media organizations
around the world in actively promoting the SDGs in andoutside of Japan. TBS Television has offered informational series like Save the Oceans: Plastic Pollution and SDGs
Toward the World of 2030, while on TBS Radio we haveoffered “Challenge Zero CO2 Reduction Campaign”. TBS
further strengthened and scaled up these efforts with theSDGs campaign “Week to Make the Earth Smile” (details
on page 11), which was held in November 2020 and again
from April to May 2021. We continue to pursue co-creation
with partner companies.

The first “Week to Make the Earth Smile” featured a
exclusive interview with António Guterres, SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations.

Co-creating value with a wide range of partners
Joint project with the United States
government: A Discussion with President
Clinton in Tokyo, Japan (1998)
TBS has long worked hand in hand with outside partners
to serve as a hub for value creation to offer the wonderful“moments,” with projects like The First Japanese Cosmonaut(1990), produced in cooperation with the Soviet Union’s general space command Glavkosmos, and A Discussion with President Clinton in Tokyo, Japan (1998), a joint project with theUnited States government. Today, and always, TBS offers value to society and the world through co-creation with its partners. Partnerships starting in 2022 include bringing the hugely popular British stage show Harry Potter and the CursedChild to Japan. This will make the Asian debut for the show,
which has been a long running hit in London and New York.

TBS Group Business Partners
TBS Group business partners include joint partners and companies funded by TBS, production companies, entertainment
agencies, performs, and indicate any enterprise, group, or individual that works with the Group.
With TBS as the key station, we have built a robust nationwide broadcasting network with the 28-station Japan
News Network (JNN) on television and 34-station Japan Radio Network (JRN) on radio.
Both the JNN and JRN include long-established local stations, many of which do not receive any TBS investment, andthe contractual relationship is between independent companies. However, these partnerships have been strengthened
to cope with recent changes in the broadcasting station environment by promoting DX through inter-affiliate cooperation, implementing joint projects and events, and improving
efficiency by transforming Tokyo branch office for 13 stations into a shared office, which also helps with rent.

TBS’s Own Facilities (Manufactured Capital)

Bases for content creation
This section introduces TBS’s manufactured capital, the equipment and facilities that make possible TBS’s value creation
cycle of Creation and Delivery.
The Broadcast Center in Akasaka, Tokyo, has studios,
sub-control rooms, and editing facilities for content Creation, with a network control center and master control
room for delivering content over the airwaves.
Apart from TBS Broadcast Center, we have OB van helping to deliver video and audio, information cameras perma-

nently installed in various locations around the country tohelp bring disaster updates and other vital information on
location, and also a transmission facility in Tokyo Sky Tree.
TBS also has theaters like Akasaka ACT Theater that bothcreate and deliver content, such as plays and concerts, aswell as Midoriyama Studio City, a spacious studio dedicatedto television drama creation. TBS has a wide range of production capital.

As a broadcaster, TBS Broadcast Center has functions
for the full range of broadcast needs, with studios forlive broadcast and recording, as well as editing andtransmission facilities

Midoriyama Studio City, a content production specialist
studioMarch 2008
Town Hall Meeting withformer UK Prime Minister Tony Blair
Outside of Midoriyama Studio City
November 1998
Town Hall Meeting with
US President Bill Clinton

June 2003
Town Hall Meeting with
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun

SNG OB van

TBS Group Integrated Report 2021

N-Sub (News studio sub-control room)

TBS Akasaka ACT Theater and IHI Stage Around Tokyo

Stage show Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Network Control Center

46

Inside of Midoriyama StudioTransmission Station in Tokyo Sky Tree

TBS Akasaka ACT Theater

IHI Stage Around Tokyo

TBS Group Integrated Report 2021

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