This is a follow-up to Part 1 (https://www.brightcove.com/ja/resources/blog/video-addict-vol2-tx-1/), in which we interviewed Mr. Danno of TV Tokyo about the company’s catch-up service. In Part 2, he talks about the company’s data analysis methods and the organization that is constantly implementing industry-first initiatives.
Yuichiro Danno
TV TOKYO Communications Corporation
Video and Data Business Department, Tech Lead
Joined TV TOKYO in 2007. After working in the Systems Department, he gained experience in various production sites in the Production Technology Department. He then worked as a tech lead for video distribution services at TV TOKYO Communications Corporation. From 2019, he was in charge of planning and development and technical strategy planning centered on video distribution technology in the Distribution Technology Department at TV TOKYO.
## If you want to increase your fan base, you have to look at things from the user’s perspective
**Brightcove (BC) Tsuchiya** The other day, Mr. Hori from your company helped us to create a case study about your work using the Arm Treasure Data CDP. Could you tell us about your company’s work using data?
**Danno-san, TV Tokyo (TX)** From a data perspective, in the past we didn’t track users. We simply looked at how much of the video was being watched, using metrics such as view rate and completion rate. For example, we would evaluate a program on a per-program basis, saying things like “this program is popular online”. If the goal was to improve TV Tokyo’s brand value, we had to look at it from the user’s perspective, in terms of increasing the number of fans. This is something that can’t be achieved with just the current Brightcove analytics, so we use a combination of Google Analytics, Google Analytics for Firebase, and Arm Treasure Data CDP.
**BC Tsuchiya** How do you use them differently?
**TX Danono**: Google Analytics has a great interface, so we use it for simple analysis. Arm Treasure Data CDP is a huge data pool, so we write SQL to segment it, and use it to analyze who those segments are and to approach them again. For example, we use it as a hub for various things, such as targeting people who have recently installed the app but haven’t used it yet.
We use Tableau, Re:dash, Google Data Studio, etc. depending on the purpose of the analysis.
## Earning the trust of the company
**BC Tsuchiya** How many people are there in your team at the moment?
**TX Danjo** Including our partner companies, there are about 20 people.
**BC Tsuchiya** When you have a certain number of people, it becomes difficult to get everyone working in the same direction, or in other words, to get everyone working with a user-oriented mindset like Mr. Danno. Please tell us how you are developing and educating your organization.
**TX Danno** To be honest, we haven’t really been able to do much in the way of development and education, but I’m trying to increase the number of people who share my ideas.
There are still many areas of the broadcasting station’s distribution business that have not been touched or organized. I am actively making proposals and improvements in areas that I have noticed, but I can’t do everything on my own, so it’s important to get more people on board. So, when I make a proposal, I try to not only explain the details of the proposal, but also to organize and communicate my own thoughts and ideas, such as “Why do you want to do this?” and “What do you want to achieve by doing this?”, to the people involved, so that they can understand and sympathize with my ideas, and I try to get more people on board by getting the people watching the discussion to sympathize with my ideas too.
**BC Tsuchiya** I see. It certainly seems like any new projects are being realized from the bottom up by Mr. Danno’s team. Could you tell us about the “World Table Tennis Championships”, which was a pioneering initiative implemented in 2017? I think it was a major project that simultaneously achieved advertising insertion via an advertising server at SSAI, as well as the simultaneous distribution of TV and internet broadcasts, which was new even in Japan.
## Since we were able to conduct a trial, we will return the facts to you.
**Mr. Danjo**: Until then, there was a situation where simulcast distribution could not be done until after the broadcast was over, because there was a possibility that it would have a negative impact on TV broadcast ratings. However, you can’t know for sure whether there will be an impact until you try it.
In fact, the results showed that there was no negative impact on the ratings, and the results of the post-distribution questionnaire survey also showed that it was good for the station’s image, but as long as the main business is TV broadcasting, there will always be anxiety and concerns before implementation.
However, we are constantly creating more and more facts to dispel any concerns or worries. Once we have been given the opportunity to trial something, it is important to provide solid feedback. Of course, in order to gain the cooperation of those involved, we also provide feedback to those concerned, such as “the word of mouth reputation has improved greatly thanks to the online distribution”. By repeating this, we have been able to win the trust of those within the company, and now there are more and more cases where we are able to distribute online before TV broadcasts, which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago.
**BC Tsuchiya** Mr. Nakagawa from MBS, who spoke at our event the other day, also said that it was important to give feedback to the producers and other people involved who supported such challenges.
**TX Danjo** That’s right. This is important not only in terms of gratitude, but also in terms of making our own work easier.
## Our job is to maximize the value of content
**BC Tsuchiya** Finally, could you tell us about your future plans?
**TX Danjo** Our job is to maximize the value of content, and at the moment we are contributing to this from a technical perspective by making it possible to experience content on various platforms and devices. However, speaking from our own perspective, we don’t think that we need pure engineers in the extreme sense, and we think that it is enough to have people who can use technology to solve problems and give technical advice in the end.
Up until now, broadcasting equipment, information systems and digital technology were all separate, independent organizations, but now they are completely integrated, and there is no such thing as a boundary between them. We are aiming to work together as a single tech organization, or a cross-sectional organization. I think that there are often cases where each organization is walking in a different direction and pulling each other’s legs. I would like to manage such things well, solve the problems of each organization, and run in the same direction.
**BC Tsuchiya** Mr. Danno’s career working in various organizations at TV Tokyo will come in handy!
**TX Mr. Danno** There are also career paths that the company provides, but I think that in the future, TV stations will need people who can experience a variety of things, put their feet down in a specific area, and make comprehensive judgments. I’ve also been working in the Human Resources Department since April, so I’d like to implement new training plans to develop such people and implement management that is close to people.
We were given some valuable insights into how to build an organization that can implement new initiatives one after another in the industry. I think this will be useful not only for the media industry, but also as a way of moving an organization forward with a sense of speed and realizing projects.
The next Video Addict will be with Mr. Setoguchi from the Asahi Shimbun. Please look forward to it!
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__After the interview__
__BC Tsuchiya__
For Vol.2, we asked Mr. Danno, who we regularly exchange information with. He told us so many things, and we really wanted to include them all, but because of the limited space we had to cut some of them out. As you can see from the interview, he has a lot of experience, and I think that his ability to balance various roles and move forward naturally is a skill that makes job rotation quite good. Also, although we didn’t get a chance to mention it this time, he plays an active role in overseas inspections and various communities, and the way he outputs to the people around him is very inspiring as a businessman. He’s a passionate person!
