U-Next Holdings Co., Ltd. is a Japanese holding company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Originally founded in Osaka in 1964 by Mototada Uno as Osaka Usen Broadcasting, it launched cable music broadcasting, a commercial background music cable broadcasting service for stores. In 2000, it changed its name to Yusen Broad Networks and launched an optical fiber broadband service. The company was renamed Usen in 2005, launching the over-the-top media services Gyao and Gyao Next (later U-Next). In 2010, U-Next was spun off as an independent company. In 2017, Usen and U-Next merged, establishing the holding company Usen-Next Holdings. Through this evolution, it has grown into a comprehensive corporate group operating across multiple sectors, including content distribution, store services, telecommunications, and energy.
The company owns and operates numerous subsidiaries, including Usen Corporation, which handles commercial background music broadcasting and store support solutions; U-Next Co., Ltd., which manages the U-Next video streaming platform;Usen-Almex Inc., a developer of automated payment machines for medical facilities and hotels; Usen Networks Co., Ltd. for telecommunications services; and Y.U-mobile Co., Ltd., which operates mobile virtual network operator services.
History was founded by Mototada Uno in 1964.『日経産業新聞』2000年10月18日「usen、有線放送網使い高速通信——ブロードバンド実験着手」 The company expanded its cable broadcasting network nationwide, primarily targeting the restaurant industry, and grew into the industry's largest company. Behind this business expansion, however, the unauthorized installation of cables on utility poles and the illegal occupation of roads had become a common practice.『日本経済新聞』夕刊 2003年10月29日「コンテンツ革命の旗手たち（40）インフラを担う（3）」
In 1984, the company received a business suspension order from the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications due to the illegal use of utility poles and roads, but it ignored the order and continued operations, clashing fiercely with the national and local governments by forcing through guerrilla-style illegal wiring in broad daylight.『日本経済新聞』朝刊 1984年5月12日「営業停止中の大阪有線、白昼ゲリラ配線——衆院委も調査。」 In response to this situation, a nationwide simultaneous police raid was conducted in April 1985, and in August of the same year, President Mototada Uno and others were arrested on suspicion of violating the Cable Radio Broadcasting Act.『日本経済新聞』夕刊 1985年8月20日「大阪有線社長ら逮捕、業務停止命令を無視。」 Following the arrests, the company completely reversed its previously uncompromising stance and began negotiations with the Ministry of Construction and various local governments regarding the payment of road occupation fees, eventually reaching agreements on the payments sequentially with cities such as Osaka and Nagoya from 1987 onwards.『日本経済新聞』夕刊 1987年3月7日「大阪有線放送の道路使用料、大阪市と合意。」
In parallel with the moves toward legal normalization, the company promoted the transition of its services to a multichannel format. It shifted to a 160-channel system in 1981, a 320-channel system in 1985, and expanded to 440 channels in October 1987.『日経流通新聞』1987年7月21日「大阪有線放送社、家庭の加入促進、440チャンネルに拡大。」 Moving beyond its traditional customer base centered on restaurants, the company focused on cultivating commercial demand from hospitals and financial institutions, as well as the market for ordinary households, particularly in apartment complexes.
In 1989, it began building a nationwide broadcasting network utilizing a communications satellite (Superbird-B) and started offering diverse content, including high school entrance exam preparation courses and personal computer correspondence education.『日経流通新聞』1989年12月19日「大阪有線放送社、通信衛星使い全国ネット構築」 In 1992, the company partnered with popular American FM radio stations to begin 24-hour real-time broadcasts of the latest hit charts, aiming to attract younger demographics and individual customers.『日経流通新聞』1992年11月26日「大阪有線放送社、NY最新ヒット曲直送——米のFM番組流す。」
In 1998, founder Mototada Uno passed away suddenly, and his second son, Yasuhide Uno, who was serving as the president of Intelligence at the time, took over and assumed the position of president.『日本経済新聞』夕刊 2003年10月28日「コンテンツ革命の旗手たち（39）インフラを担う（2）」 Immediately upon taking office, Yasuhide tackled the long-standing management issue of the "unauthorized use of utility poles". The entire company mobilized to undertake the normalization process of checking approximately 7.2 million utility poles nationwide one by one and obtaining permission for their use, completing the task by the end of March 2000. The costs recorded for this normalization reached 24.6 billion yen, and to avoid falling into negative net worth, Yasuhide personally borrowed 7 billion yen from banks to invest in the company.『日本経済新聞』2007年3月27日「興したVB急成長 父の会社も「動かす」」
In April 2000, following the completion of the normalization work, the company relocated its headquarters from Osaka to Tokyo and changed its name to . Building upon the nationwide infrastructure and sales network cultivated through its cable broadcasting business, the company initiated a full-scale entry into the broadband communications business utilizing optical fiber networks.『日経産業新聞』2000年10月18日「usen、有線放送網使い高速通信——ブロードバンド実験着手」
In July 2000, the 100% owned subsidiary U's Communications received approval for a Type 1 telecommunications business license, marking the first time a major cable radio broadcasting company had entered the telecommunications business.『読売新聞』2000年7月27日 東京朝刊「「有線ブロードネットワークス」が通信業に参入」 In March 2001, the company became the first private enterprise to launch a fiber-optic connection service for households (100 Mbps, flat rate of 4,900 yen per month) in parts of Tokyo, entering the market with significantly lower pricing than existing telecommunications companies.『読売新聞』2001年2月15日 東京朝刊「有線大手が光ファイバーネットに月額4900円で参入」 In October of the same year, the company expanded its service area to Hokkaido (Sapporo City), driving its nationwide expansion.『読売新聞』2001年10月3日 東京夕刊「有線ブロードネットワークス、高速ネットのサービス開始=北海道」 During this period, on April 25, 2001, the company successfully listed its shares on the Nasdaq Japan (later Hercules) market.『読売新聞』2001年3月27日 大阪朝刊「有線ブロードネットワークスのナスダックJ上場を承認/大証」
While rapidly expanding its business scale, the company's aggressive sales tactics in the cable broadcasting business sometimes drew scrutiny. In May 2004, the Fair Trade Commission conducted an on-site inspection of the company's headquarters and nationwide branch offices on suspicion of violating the Anti-Monopoly Act (private monopolization). The company was suspected of repeatedly offering unfair discounts specifically to customers of its second-largest competitor, Can System, such as waiving viewing fees for a certain period or setting a discounted "discriminatory price" on the condition that they switched their contracts.『読売新聞』2004年5月20日 東京夕刊「有線最大手 不当値引き 多チャンネル化で競争激化 公取、立ち入り検査」
With the spread of its broadband communications business, the company accelerated its efforts to secure content distributed over its network. In September 2004, it acquired shares from the new president, Masato Matsuura, and others to become the largest shareholder of the major record company Avex, which was undergoing a management overhaul.『読売新聞』2004年9月29日 東京朝刊「エイベックス・松浦新社長「若い力を集める」 有線放送大手に持ち株譲渡」 In October of the same year, it announced a policy to invest approximately 10 billion yen in Gaga Communications, a major film distribution company struggling with poor performance, and to make it a subsidiary.『読売新聞』2004年10月13日 東京朝刊「有線ブロードネットワークス、ギャガへ100億円の支援検討」
Furthermore, in the same month, aiming to secure sports content, it was revealed that the company was considering the acquisition of the professional baseball team Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, which was under the umbrella of Daiei, a company that had requested support from the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan. However, SoftBank also announced its intention to acquire the team around the same time, and the team was ultimately sold to SoftBank (currently the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks). Consequently, Yusen Broad Networks did not realize the ownership of the team.『読売新聞』2004年10月22日 東京朝刊「ダイエーホークス買収、対抗馬登場か 有線ブロードネットが検討」
On March 1, 2005, the company changed its name to , incorporating the initials of its United Sensational Entertainment Network concept—providing diverse information to users through various means—while also playing on the word Yusen (cable).『読売新聞』2004年11月8日 中部朝刊「有線ブロードネットワークス、「USEN」に社名変更へ」 Taking this opportunity, in addition to its cable broadcasting and karaoke businesses which had entered a period of stable maturity, the company clearly established broadband communications using optical fiber networks and digital content distribution businesses as its new managerial pillars.『読売新聞』2005年6月7日 東京朝刊「［戦略を聞く］USEN・宇野康秀社長 テレビと資本提携も」
In its continuing pursuit of content, the company also considered acquiring the film company Nikkatsu, a subsidiary of Namco. However, facing strong opposition from the Nikkatsu labor union, Usen determined that a forced acquisition would not yield the expected synergistic effects and officially abandoned the acquisition in August 2005.『日本経済新聞』2005年8月16日 朝刊「USEN、日活買収断念、正式に発表。」
On April 25, 2005, the company launched Gyao, a completely free broadband video distribution service for personal computers that did not charge viewers by relying on advertising revenue.『日本経済新聞』2005年4月14日 朝刊「マイクロソフトやUSEN、ネット映像無料配信続々」 It expanded its distributed content by producing news and original programs in its own studios, alongside movies, dramas, and anime, as well as providing programs from broadcasters such as TV Tokyo.
Gyao gained registered users primarily in their late teens to 30s due to its convenience as a video-on-demand format that could be viewed anytime and the ease of access requiring only simple registration details such as gender and age. By October of the same year, the number of members surpassed 2.5 million, taking the top spot in the total usage time share among major domestic video distribution sites.『日経産業新聞』2005年10月28日「動画配信サイトの利用時間シェア、9月の首位はGyaO」 To cope with the rapid increase in access, the company invested approximately 2.5 billion yen in November of the same year to expand its network equipment to support 10 million users, and on December 14, the number of registered viewers surpassed 5 million, achieving rapid growth as the company's flagship service.『日経産業新聞』2005年12月16日「「GyaO」視聴登録、500万人を突破」
Outside of video distribution, the company partnered with Rakuten in August 2005 to launch Rakuten Music Download, a music download sales service featuring approximately 110,000 songs.楽天株式会社 プレスリリース 2005年7月27日「楽天とUSEN、提携により11万楽曲の音楽ダウンロードサービスを8月に提供開始」 In October of the same year, it advanced the diversification of its communications business by launching Business VPN, a low-cost virtual private network (VPN) service for corporate clients. Furthermore, around the same time, the company attracted attention by expressing interest in acquiring the management rights of the professional baseball team Yokohama BayStars, though this acquisition ultimately did not materialize either.『日本経済新聞』2005年10月20日 朝刊「横浜買収、USENが意欲」
In response to the rapid growth of the free broadband broadcasting service Gyao, the company advanced the further expansion and diversification of its content. In April 2005, it distributed a TV anime for PCs and mobile phones,『日経MJ（流通新聞）』2005年4月8日「バンダイ、USENなど、TVアニメ携帯にも配信。」 and in January 2006, it began streaming past programs from NHK.『日経産業新聞』2006年1月26日「USEN、NHK番組をネットで配信。」 In the same month, it launched Dokodemo Usen, a free music program distribution service for mobile phones.『日本経済新聞』2006年1月16日 朝刊「USEN音楽番組、携帯電話に無料配信」 Furthermore, in February, the company ventured into selling DVD software of its self-produced programs distributed on Gyao, aiming to secure revenue sources through the multiple utilization of its programs.『日経産業新聞』2006年2月9日「USEN、ギャオ配信番組、DVDソフトに。」