Television broadcasting in Japan began in 1953. Today, television has spread to almost all Japanese households. Analog broadcast satellite (BS) broadcasting began in 1989. There are four analog BS television channels: NHK (Japan's public broadcaster) has three, including a Hi-Vision (high-definition TV) channel, and the fourth is operated by a commercial broadcaster. NHK, which gained confidence in the practical application of its Hi-Vision technology, made a move to make Hi-Vision a world standard, but it abandoned its move for the international standardization of analog Hi-Vision technology due to the movement toward digitization seen from around 1990.
Meanwhile, the digitization of multichannel broadcasting utilizing communication satellites (CS) began from 1996. 200 channel broadcasts were launched at this time. J Sky B, led by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, and DirecTV (run by U.S.-based Hughes Electronics) entered the market, but unprofitable operations continued due to the proliferation of CS platforms. JSkyB merged with PerfecTV! and became SKY PerfecTV!, while DirecTV retreated from the Japanese market.
Digital BS broadcasting also began at the end of 2001, with Japan's five commercial television networks all jumping to join the race.
IP television broadcasting, which utilizes broadband lines, was launched in 2004. In addition to KDDI, Yahoo! BBTV (Softbank Group) and Plala TV (NTT), a series of new market entries are being made by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and venture firms. A new race is beginning as many CS channels advance into broadband IP broadcasting.
On the other hand, terrestrial digital TV broadcasting began in three major cities in Japan in 2003, lagging behind similar moves in the United States and the United Kingdom. A digital tuner or digital TV is necessary for viewing terrestrial digital TV broadcasts. The Japanese government is aiming to spread 12 million digital TVs by 2006 FIFA World CupTM Germany, and make a complete switchover to digital TV broadcasting by 2011. However, some are beginning to feel that it will be difficult to achieve these targets based on the current pace of developments.
Digitization requires massive investment on the part of broadcasters, and whether or not local commercial broadcasters will be able to bear such costs is also becoming a major issue.
With mobile broadcasting that sends broadcast signals from satellites directly to mobile terminals now also in the running, there is a melee occurring in the Japanese television broadcasting industry.
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