Fuji Media board approved amid challenge from US activist fundーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
japanese broadcasting giant Fuji Media Holdings has held its annual shareholders meeting and it’s getting a lot of attention
that’s because the company and its subsidiary Fuji Television Network have come under fire for a sexual assault scandal involving a high-profile pop star yuko Fushima joins us now for the details so you could tell us what went on at the meeting
sure well this year’s shareholders meeting was mainly about who would sit on the board now this became a hot topic after an activist shareholder started demanding Fuji Media accept its slate of candidates but shareholders on Wednesday voted to name all 11 directors backed by Fuji Media’s executives with the new management winning the confidence of stockholders we now have an environment where we can steadily implement plans to reform our business the company had proposed a management reshuffle in improvements to corporate governance but US-based Dalton Investments the second largest shareholder as of January called for stronger measures it put forward 12 candidates for the board but none was uh accepted dalton also has urged separation of the company’s lucrative real estate business saying it’s not related to its broadcasting operations of those shareholders back the management plan many hope for further improvement i want the company to confront its problems more deeply i hope this leads to a more open atmosphere and ensures the voices of the workers are heard so you go why did the shareholders back the board of directors uh proposed by um by the management and not the data I talked to an expert about that now Karaki Aku advises companies that receive proposals by activist funds and Kaki says in this case neither proposal was perfect so the shareholders chose the better of the two I don’t think either side laid out the clear and strong and robust long-term vision um how would they think about the group future be um and how the portfolio is going to look like and what um what impact would the shareholder receive based on that so because of that I think the shareholders uh were actually following their instinct almost like which sounds more trustworthy or must more executable or less confusion um in the business
regardless of the decision by the shareholders what kind of impact do you think Dalton Investments have had on Fuji Media Holdings management
well I think it’s massive um the big impact that they brought um regardless of the result um is that they highlighted the issue that the company was having they also put a real pressure on management to rethink their business strategy um how they use capital and how transparent they are right and one of Dalton’s demands was that Fuji Media split off its real estate business right why why do they want that well Karaki says Dalton wants each sector to maximize profit on its own now this is something that is not in the DNA of Fuji Media a Japanese conglomerate the global trend is to spin off i would say having said that Japanese companies um historically and also um now try to have their group portfolio in a diverse way so that they can have a longevity of the group so Yuko what can we expect from the company from here now that it has a new management and a fresh start
right well Kanaki says it’s not just uh Fuji Media but the whole TV industry is facing a big transition and this is going around the world younger viewers are going to uh turn turning away from TV and going to streamlines and the videos network websites as well advertising is shifting to digital and the competition with the streaming platforms um is becoming more and more intense um so in the US like the the MBC’s and Disney’s they they already launched their own streaming services um and they can connect directly um and intimately with the audiences coming back to Japan uh Japan is great in having a TV uh program then put it into experience through a city and building uh places um and also have a game um um and other media combined all together to create one holistic um experience together right so Kaki is saying that Fuji and other Japanese broadcasters should think outside the TV box and expand to other areas is that it
exactly you know Japanese broadcasters are rich in content and they can use this in other media to draw in the younger generation who don’t watch TV anymore that way they can create a new form of media
Shareholders sign off despite anger over the company’s handling of a sexual assault scandal. But an expert says pressure from the US fund may influence future management decisions. #japan #business #technology #broadcast
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