Today, we’re announcing a change in our executive leadership, with the appointment of Masaya Ueno, formerly Chief of Staff at Viki, to interim CEO, replacing the current CEO, Joanne Waage, who has accepted a position with another company.
Ueno joined Viki as Chief of Staff in April, 2017 to lead Viki’s new business development and strategic initiatives. He has led the expansion of new services and partnerships, including new content verticals, e-commerce, and brand partnerships.
Since he joined Rakuten in 2009, Masaya has brought deep expertise in guiding the course of new businesses in the Americas and Asia Pacific, across multiple industries, including e-commerce and finance.
He is also a global citizen, having lived in the U.S, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan, and a connoisseur of global entertainment, sports, and culture.
“I’m looking forward to working with a talented, creative, and energetic team that is responsible for creating one of the best video-on-demand services in the world.” Ueno explained.
During her tenure at Viki, Joanne was instrumental in positioning Viki as a global provider of Asian dramas and led Viki’s expansion into original programming, including the upcoming series, Five Year. We deeply appreciate her great contributions to Viki and wish her all the best in her new role.
Throughout its offices in Korea, China, Japan, and the U.S, Viki will continue to pursue new and exciting opportunities to deliver the best in premium Asian TV programming across more than 190 countries.
“Our strength is in creating a fun, inviting platform where real engagement, sharing, and conversations around content can take place between fans worldwide,” explained Ueno.
“Audiences come to Viki to not only watch the videos, but to connect with us and each other in meaningful conversations and experiences. As an OTT service and an engagement platform for young consumers, we’ll continue to innovate on trendsetting entertainment experiences for fans worldwide.”
With continued investments in original content, diversified programming, and exploration into new verticals — spanning food, beauty, and fashion — Viki now reaches more than 40 million fans around the world and has over 1 billion words translated through its fan-led, volunteer subtitling community.
