2012–2014: Launch of Video Pass and Early Development Prior to the launch of Video Pass, KDDI provided a video service called Lismo Video, which faced difficulties gaining traction during the feature phone era. As the market shifted toward smartphones and multi-device streaming, KDDI restructured its video distribution strategy.Video Pass was officially launched on May 15, 2012. At its inception, the service was priced at ¥590 per month, offering a hybrid subscription model that included unlimited streaming of older catalog titles and one monthly rental ticket for newer releases. Users could also rent additional titles on an a-la-carte basis. Shortly after its launch, KDDI began investing in original programming to differentiate the service from competitors. In May 2012, KDDI announced a co-production with Jcom and Asmik Ace. The project, a three-part short drama series based on
Keigo Higashino's work, premiered in August 2012 and marked a shift from relying solely on the secondary distribution of broadcast content. By early 2014, Video Pass had grown to an estimated several million regular users. In May 2014, KDDI rolled out a major user interface update to accommodate varied viewing habits. The redesign introduced a feature allowing users to search for content based on playback duration and integrated third-party user reviews through a partnership with the social movie service Filmarks. The update also created a clearer visual separation between the unlimited streaming catalog—which had grown to approximately 1,000 titles—and the pay-per-view rental library of nearly 3,000 titles. Additionally, the service added support for
Google Chromecast. As the video-on-demand market expanded, KDDI began segmenting its content offerings. In June 2014, KDDI launched a separate, specialized subscription service called Anime Pass in collaboration with
Kadokawa. While Video Pass retained family-oriented anime titles, Anime Pass was designed specifically for late-night and enthusiast anime. Despite the expansion of features and services, KDDI maintained its strategy of keeping Video Pass strictly exclusive to au mobile subscribers. The company stated that avoiding a carrier-free model was a deliberate choice to differentiate its services amid the increasing commoditization of smartphone hardware. KDDI also formed a partnership with
TV Tokyo to distribute daily segments of the late-night business news program
World Business Satellite on the morning after broadcast, catering to users who missed the live airing. In mid-2015, KDDI officially announced that Video Pass had reached approximately one million subscribers. During this period of growth, KDDI also announced a migration of its backend infrastructure, transitioning the Video Pass distribution platform to the KKBOX system—which the company was already using for its music services—to build an integrated media distribution infrastructure for the Asian market. Driven by this competitive pressure, a major shift in content strategy occurred on August 20, 2015, when KDDI announced a comprehensive business partnership with
TV Asahi. This collaboration was designed to co-produce original programming and distribute terrestrial broadcasts using a data-driven approach. As a first step, Video Pass became the exclusive subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service to stream TV Asahi dramas and variety shows immediately following their television broadcasts. A defining feature of this partnership was the utilization of KDDI's telecom big data to inform television production. By analyzing user viewing histories, search data, and specific drop-off points, combined with approximately 2,000 types of metadata (such as emotional tone and content characteristics) provided by Sockets Inc., creators could optimize episode runtimes and narrative pacing. The first project to emerge from this data-driven strategy was an original horror drama starring
AKB48 group members, produced by
Yasushi Akimoto, which premiered in October 2015. The project featured terrestrial television episodes alongside exclusive alternate-story episodes produced specifically for Video Pass. In early 2017, Video Pass expanded its content offerings to include live event streaming. In April 2017, the platform live-streamed a stage event from "Umatsuri," a festival hosted by the creator management company UUUM. Notably, KDDI made this specific live stream available for free via the Video Pass app to all users, including non-au subscribers and those without registered accounts. The following month, the platform entered the K-pop space by providing free live streams of the convention stages at "KCON 2017 JAPAN," along with a delayed broadcast of the main concert event. Following its initial focus on smartphones and PCs, KDDI steadily expanded Video Pass access to living room and smart home devices. In November 2016, a dedicated app was released for the Apple TV. This was followed by an app for Android TV-equipped Sony BRAVIA televisions in December 2017. In April 2018, the platform integrated with Google Home smart speakers, allowing users to control video playback on their televisions using voice commands. In August 2018, KDDI made a major strategic shift by opening Video Pass to non-au subscribers, making the service carrier-free. Users from other mobile networks could access the platform by registering for a free Wow! ID. KDDI President Makoto Takahashi stated that transitioning away from a strictly vertically integrated model was a deliberate step to expand the platform's reach. Contrasting KDDI's approach with competitor NTT Docomo—which opened its video service, dTV, to non-subscribers while retaining its distinct "d" branding—Takahashi noted that KDDI intentionally excluded the "Au" brand from its "Pass" services. This was part of a broader strategy to appeal more naturally to a wider audience outside of its existing mobile subscriber base.
2019–2020: Joint Venture and Rebranding to Telasa In late 2019, anticipating the rollout of 5G networks, KDDI and TV Asahi announced the establishment of a joint venture to operate a subscription video-on-demand service. On December 11, 2019, KDDI established a preparatory company—which would later become Telasa Corporation—and transferred the Video Pass operations to it. On March 2, 2020, KDDI transferred 50% of this company's shares to TV Asahi, finalizing a 50-50 joint venture structure with a capital of ¥50 million. On April 7, 2020, Video Pass was officially rebranded as
Telasa. The launch was timed to coincide with KDDI's introduction of commercial
5G services in late March. It also occurred during the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted television production but simultaneously drove record-high viewership across streaming platforms due to stay-at-home demand. The new name combines Tel (representing Telecommunications and Television) with Asa (for morning). Furthermore, the name Telasa serves as a deliberate phonetic play on Tere-Asa, the common Japanese abbreviation for TV Asahi. The creation of Telasa marked TV Asahi's full-scale entry into the SVOD market and was a strategic response to rival Japanese broadcasters solidifying their own streaming platforms; at the time,
Nippon TV operated
Hulu Japan,
TBS and
TV Tokyo co-owned
Paravi, and public broadcaster
NHK had recently launched its catch-up service, NHK Plus. Internally, TV Asahi positioned the subscription-based Telasa to coexist with its other streaming venture,
AbemaTV (co-owned with
CyberAgent), noting that AbemaTV primarily targeted younger audiences and offered a different viewing experience.
2021–Present: Original Programming and Multi-Platform Strategy In early 2021, Telasa began producing exclusive content to improve its market position. On February 26, 2021, the platform released its first original series,
Shufu Maison, co-produced with TV Asahi and Media Mix Japan. Concurrently, KDDI entered the independent film distribution business to secure exclusive streaming rights and flexible release windows. In April 2021, KDDI acted as the sole distributor for the film
Funny Bunny, releasing it simultaneously in theaters and on its SVOD platforms. These content investments aimed to increase Telasa's competitiveness in the domestic market, where its 2.9% share in 2020 lagged behind rivals like NTT Docomo's dTV (6.5%). In 2022, KDDI established KDDI Pictures and began full-scale film production and distribution. Driven by this expanded distribution network and an increased focus on platform-exclusive content—including terrestrial drama spin-offs, exclusive sports broadcasts, and enhanced anime programming—Telasa surpassed two million subscribers by March 2025. Despite the subscriber growth and maintaining overall profitability as a core SVOD service, the company's financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2025 (its sixth term) showed a significant 80.6% year-over-year decrease in net profit, falling to 195 million yen from the previous year's ¥1.009 billion. On February 27, 2025, Telasa announced a major renewal of its unlimited streaming plan, accompanied by a price increase. Effective March 1, 2025, the monthly subscription fee was raised from ¥618 to ¥990. == Service and Features ==