Is ABEMA profitable in 2026?

Yes. ABEMA's parent segment posted its first operating profit in a decade, ¥7.2 billion for FY2025 ended September 2025, then grew Q2 FY2026 (Jan-Mar 2026) operating profit 1.7x to ¥5.4 billion, per CyberAgent's own investor filings dated November 2025 and May 2026.

ABEMA is operated by AbemaTV, Inc., a joint venture between Japanese internet conglomerate CyberAgent, Inc. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4751) and terrestrial broadcaster TV Asahi Holdings. CyberAgent consolidates it as its Media & IP segment; there is no independent public listing for ABEMA itself.

Is ABEMA's biggest competitor TVer or Netflix?

TVer is the more direct threat: it is the most-watched free ad-supported platform in Japan by viewing hours as of 2025 per industry reporting, runs live sports and originals in the same free lane as ABEMA, and is backed by the full broadcaster consortium including ABEMA's own co-owner TV Asahi.

Could AI replace ABEMA's streaming business?

No. ABEMA's core value sits in live sports and anime broadcast rights, its TV Asahi distribution JV, and PPV events, none of which generic AI can replicate. AI at ABEMA is confined to recommendations, subtitling and engineering workflows, such as the AI multilingual subtitling feature launched July 17, 2024.

Why did ABEMA skip the 2026 FIFA World Cup rights?

ABEMA did not bid for 2026 FIFA World Cup Japan streaming rights, citing escalating rights fees and a weaker yen, after its 2022 World Cup broadcast reportedly cost around ¥20 billion. This reflects a pivot toward strict profitability over marquee-rights gambles, per company reporting as of January 2026.

How many users does ABEMA have in 2026?

CyberAgent reported ABEMA weekly active users of approximately 25 million as of the Q2 FY2026 update on May 13, 2026, down from a figure exceeding 28 million cited in CyberAgent's own September 27, 2025 investor report.

Consumer platforms · subsidiary of CyberAgent, Inc. (co-owned jointly with TV Asahi Holdings) · Japan

ABEMA

abema.tv ↗

Japan's free ad-supported streaming app for live sports, news, and anime.

Losing its protection

Assessed 26 July 2026 · Evidence as of 26 July 2026

The structural protection is eroding.

On the recordSince 26 July 2026 · Checkable from Aug-Sep 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: CyberAgent Q3 FY2026 earnings, testing whether ABEMA's profit holds under rising sports-rights costs

The call

ABEMA turned its first profit in ten years, but TVer already draws more viewing hours in the same free live-sports space, with TV Asahi feeding both.

ABEMA is a streaming service in Japan that shows live sports, anime, and original shows. It is hard to keep because it has to pay huge amounts of money every few years to show sports like soccer and UFC, and those prices keep going up. The bigger problem is that TVer, a free service run by all the major TV networks in Japan (including one that part-owns ABEMA), already has more people watching it and shows the same sports and original shows that ABEMA does. If TVer keeps gaining viewers or advertisers while sports costs keep rising, ABEMA's small profit margin could disappear quickly.

Why

AI pressure: None apparent. No AI product or lab is named as pulling viewers or rights away from ABEMA in current reporting. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.

Bigger players: TVer. TVer, backed by all major broadcasters including co-owner TV Asahi, now leads ABEMA in viewing hours in the same free live-sports lane. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. CyberAgent's balance sheet funds rights bids and covers losses while ABEMA's hit originals and Premium tier build a second revenue leg.

What would change this call

TVer's reported viewing hours vs ABEMA's WAU/hours in 2026-27 industry reports. Whether TVer's lead over ABEMA is widening or narrowing.
Outcome of next FIFA, UFC, MLB or EPL Japan streaming rights bids in 2026-27. Whether ABEMA can still win or afford marquee live sports rights.
ABEMA Media & IP segment operating margin in Q3-Q4 FY2026 earnings. Whether the FY2025 profit turnaround holds once rights costs recur.

Key numbers

ABEMA posted first operating profit in a decade: ¥7.2B (2025-09-30)
Media & IP segment sales ¥231.5B, up 15.7% YoY (2025-09-30)
ABEMA weekly active users about 25 million (2026-05-13)

Named risks

Live sports and anime broadcast rights must be rebid at inflating prices each cycle, threatening thin operating margins. Severity: high
TVer, backed by ABEMA's own JV partner TV Asahi, already leads on viewing hours in the same free FAST lane. Severity: high
WAU figures fluctuated from about 28 million (Sept 2025) to about 25 million (May 2026), signaling possible engagement softening. Severity: medium
CyberAgent itself issued a cautious FY2026 outlook despite record FY2025 profits. Severity: medium
Leadership transition underway at CyberAgent group level could alter ABEMA strategic priorities. Severity: low

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
TVer	losing to	TVer leads ABEMA in viewing hours in Japan as of 2025 and is backed by the full broadcaster consortium including TV Asahi
Netflix Japan	contesting	ABEMA original Scandal Eve hit number 1 on Netflix Japan after co-production release, Nov 2025
DAZN	contesting	ABEMA launched Abema de DAZN bundled sports subscription tier, Jan 29, 2026, rather than compete head-on
FIFA (World Cup rights market)	losing to	ABEMA declined to bid for 2026 World Cup rights as FIFA seeks up to $4 billion, after a ~Y20B loss on 2022 rights
UFC/Paramount rights ecosystem	losing to	UFC's new $7.7 billion seven-year Paramount deal (2026) signals inflating global sports-rights costs pressuring ABEMA's bidding

Questions people ask

Is ABEMA profitable in 2026?: Yes. ABEMA's parent segment posted its first operating profit in a decade, ¥7.2 billion for FY2025 ended September 2025, then grew Q2 FY2026 (Jan-Mar 2026) operating profit 1.7x to ¥5.4 billion, per CyberAgent's own investor filings dated November 2025 and May 2026.
Who owns ABEMA?: ABEMA is operated by AbemaTV, Inc., a joint venture between Japanese internet conglomerate CyberAgent, Inc. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4751) and terrestrial broadcaster TV Asahi Holdings. CyberAgent consolidates it as its Media & IP segment; there is no independent public listing for ABEMA itself.
Is ABEMA's biggest competitor TVer or Netflix?: TVer is the more direct threat: it is the most-watched free ad-supported platform in Japan by viewing hours as of 2025 per industry reporting, runs live sports and originals in the same free lane as ABEMA, and is backed by the full broadcaster consortium including ABEMA's own co-owner TV Asahi.
Could AI replace ABEMA's streaming business?: No. ABEMA's core value sits in live sports and anime broadcast rights, its TV Asahi distribution JV, and PPV events, none of which generic AI can replicate. AI at ABEMA is confined to recommendations, subtitling and engineering workflows, such as the AI multilingual subtitling feature launched July 17, 2024.
Why did ABEMA skip the 2026 FIFA World Cup rights?: ABEMA did not bid for 2026 FIFA World Cup Japan streaming rights, citing escalating rights fees and a weaker yen, after its 2022 World Cup broadcast reportedly cost around ¥20 billion. This reflects a pivot toward strict profitability over marquee-rights gambles, per company reporting as of January 2026.
How many users does ABEMA have in 2026?: CyberAgent reported ABEMA weekly active users of approximately 25 million as of the Q2 FY2026 update on May 13, 2026, down from a figure exceeding 28 million cited in CyberAgent's own September 27, 2025 investor report.

Timeline

2026-06ABEMA launches 24-hour free POKER channel with exclusive World Series of Poker broadcast
2026-05-13CyberAgent reports Media & IP Q2 FY2026 operating profit up 1.7x to Y5.4B, ABEMA WAU approximately 25 million
2026-01-29ABEMA launches Abema de DAZN bundled subscription tier
2026-01ABEMA confirms no bid for 2026 FIFA World Cup Japan streaming rights
2025-12-26ABEMA launches Project PRISMation original anime creator program
2025-11-14CyberAgent reports FY2025 Media and IP first operating profit in a decade, Y7.2B, plus leadership transition to President Yamauchi
2025-11ABEMA original drama Scandal Eve reaches number 1 on Netflix Japan after co-production release
2025-09-27CyberAgent investor report cites ABEMA WAU exceeding 28 million
2024-07-17ABEMA Live launches AI multilingual subtitling for South Korea, Thailand, Philippines and US markets
2024-05ABEMA partners with J Sports to launch Abema de J Sports bundle

Revision history

26 July 2026

First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

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