Jump to content

Television in Japan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 59.5.206.236 (talk) at 07:10, 15 August 2009 (→National networks). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Television broadcasting in Japan started in 1939[1], making the country one of the first in the world with an experimental television service. In spite of that, because of the beginning of World War II in the Pacific region, this first experimentation lasted only a few months. Regular television broadcasts started only after the war, in 1951.

Japanese residents must pay an annual licence fee used to fund NHK, the Japanese public service broadcaster. This varies from 14,910 to 28,080 JPY depending on the method and timing of payment and whether one receives only terrestrial television or also satellite broadcasts.[2]

National networks

In Japan, there are six nationwide television networks, as follows:

In addition to networks above, commercial stations not affiliated with above forms non-strict network called Japanese Association of Independent Television Stations (JAITS). Apart from them, Open University of Japan broadcast to the whole Kanto region with programmes mostly in-house productions.

Regional affiliates and other local channels

Digital television

See also: ISDB

Japan pioneered HDTV for decades with an analogue implementation (MUSE/Hi-Vision)). The old system is not compatible with the new digital standards. Japanese terrestrial broadcasting of HD via ISDB-T started in December 1, 2003 in the Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya metropolitan areas of Japan. It has been reported that 27 million HD receivers have been sold in Japan as of October 2007.[4]

The Japanese government is studying the implementation of some improvements on the standard as suggested by Brazilian researchers (SBTVD). These new features are unlikely to be adopted in Japan due to incompatibility problems, but are being considered for use in future implementations in other countries, including Brazil itself.[5]

Analogue terrestrial television broadcasts in Japan are scheduled to end on July 24, 2011 according to the current Japanese broadcasting law[6]. However, the move to DTV by consumers is relatively slow, partly because ISDB receivers are very expensive. Additionally there have been issues with the B-CAS system and very strict Digital Rights Management in respect to the home recording of broadcasts.

Satellite television

The medium-scale Broadcasting Satellite for Experimental Purposes (BSE) was planned by Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MOPT) and developed by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) since 1974. After that, the first Japanese experimental broadcasting satellite, called BSE or Yuri, was launched in 1978. NHK started experimental broadcasting of TV program using BS-2a satellite on May, 1984.

The satellite BS-2a was launched in preparation for the start of full scale 2-channel broadcasts. Broadcasting Satellite BS-2a was the first national DBS (direct broadcasting satellite), transmitting signals directly into the home of TV viewers. Attitude control of the satellite was conducted using the 3 axial method (zero momentum), and design life was 5 years. The TV transponder units are designed to sufficiently amplify transmitted signals to enable reception by small, 40 or 60 cm home-use parabolic antennas. The satellite was equipped with 3 TV transponders (including reserve units). However, one transponder malfunctioned 2 months after launch (March 23, 1984) and a second transponder malfunctioned 3 months after launch (May 3, 1984). So, the scheduled satellite broadcasting had to be hastily adjusted to test broadcasting on a single channel.

Later, NHK started regular service (NTSC) and experimental HDTV broadcasting using BS-2b on June, 1989. Some Japanese producers of home electronic consumer devices began to deliver TVsets, VCRs and even home acoustic systems equipped by built-in satellite tuners or receivers. Such electronic goods had a specific BS logo.

On April, 1991, Japanese company JSB started pay TV service while BS-3 communication satellite was in use. In 1996 total number of households that receive satellite broadcasting exceeded 10 million.

The modern two satellite systems in use in Japan are BSAT and JCSAT; the modern WOWOW Broadcasting Satellite digital service uses BSAT satellites, while other system of digital TV broadcasting SKY PerfecTV! uses JCSAT satellites.

Satellite channels

Programmes

While TV programs vary from station to station, some generalizations can be made. Early morning hours are dominated by news programs, and these run to around 9:00 to 9:30 AM. They are then replaced by late morning shows that target wives who have finished house work. These run to around 1:30PM, at which time reruns of dramas and information programs that target the same age group start. At around 4:00PM, the young kid-oriented anime and TV shows start, and end around 6:00PM. News programs takeover for an hour ending in 7:00PM, when the "Golden Hour" of TV shows start. 7:00PM to 9:00PM are the time periods into which TV stations pour the most resources. Appearing in this time frame is a certain sign that an actor or actress is a TV star. After 9:00 they switch over to Japanese television dramas and programs focusing on older age groups, which run till 10:00 or 11:00PM. Some stations run news programs from 10:00PM, and around midnight sports news programs run which target working ages. After these, programs for mature audiences run as well as anime that do not expect enough viewers if they were run earlier.

The Japanese have sometimes subdivided television series and dramas into kūru (クール), from the French term "cours" for "course", which is a 3-month period usually of 13 episodes. Each kūru generally has its own opening and ending image sequence and song, recordings of which are often sold.

Dorama

Main article: Japanese television drama

Japanese dramas (テレビドラマ, terebi dorama, television drama), also called dorama (ドラマ), are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including romance, comedies, detective stories, horror, and many others. With a theme, there may be a one-episode drama, or 2-nights, that may be aired on special occasions, such as in 2007 where they had a drama produced as a sixty-year anniversary from the end of the World War II, with a theme of the atomic bomb.

Science fiction

Main article: Japanese science fiction television

Japan has a long history of producing science fiction series for TV. Only a few of these series are aired outside Japan and even when aired, they tend to be edited, rarely retaining their original storyline. Non-anime sci-fi are still largely unknown to foreign audiences. An exception is Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and their subsequent series that used battle sequences from the Super Sentai counterpart and combined them with American actors who acted out entirely original story lines.

Anime

Main article: Anime

Anime (アニメ), taken from half of the Japanese pronunciation of "animation", is animation in Japan and considered to be "Japanese animation" in the rest of the world.[7] Anime dates from about 1917.[8] TV networks regularly broadcast anime programming. In Japan, major national TV networks, such as TV Tokyo broadcast anime regularly. Smaller regional stations broadcast anime under the UHF.

Variety Shows

Main article: Japanese variety show

Japanese variety show is television entertainment made up of a variety of original stunts, musical performances, comedy skits, quiz contests, and other acts. Japanese television programs such as Music Station and Utaban continue in an almost pristine format from the same variety shows of years before. The only major changes have been the increasing disappearance of live backup music since the 1980s.

See also

References

  1. ^ “Can you see me clearly?” Public TV image reception experiment (1939)
  2. ^ Receiving Fee System, NHK
  3. ^ NHK 新放送ガイドライン, p41
  4. ^ Template:Ja icon JEITA / 統計データ
  5. ^ "Brasil fecha acordo com padrão japonês de TV Digital". Retrieved 2006-06-26.
  6. ^ Template:Ja icon [1]
  7. ^ "www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/anime".
  8. ^ "Old anime discovered, restored," Daily Yomiuri Online. March 28, 2008.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Television_in_Japan&oldid=308086229"