Jump to content

Nagasaki Broadcasting

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the Japanese local broadcaster. For the American television network, see NBC. For other uses, see NBC (disambiguation).
Nagasaki Broadcasting Co., Ltd.
NBC
Native name
長崎放送株式会社
Nagasakihōsō kabushikigaisha
Company typeBusiness corporation
IndustryRadio and television network
FoundedSeptember 12, 1952; 73 years ago (1952-09-12)
Headquarters5-6 Onoe-cho,
Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture
,
Japan
Websitewww.nbc-nagasaki.co.jp
Footnotes / references
Data from its Corporate Profile
JOUR
Broadcast areaNagasaki Prefecture
Frequencies1233 kHz (AM); 92.6 MHz (FM)
BrandingNBC Radio
Programming
LanguageJapanese
FormatTalk, Sports
AffiliationsJRN, NRN
Ownership
OwnerNagasaki Broadcasting Co., Ltd.
History
First air date
March 1, 1953; 72 years ago (1953-03-01)
Technical information
Licensing authority
MIC
Power5 kW
Links
Websitewww.nbc-nagasaki.co.jp/radio/
JOUR-DTV
JOMF-TV (defunct)
  • Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
CityNagasaki
Channels
BrandingNBC Nagasaki Television
Programming
AffiliationsJapan News Network
Ownership
OwnerNagasaki Broadcasting Co., Ltd.
History
First air date
January 1, 1959; 66 years ago (1959-01-01)
February 20, 1959; 66 years ago (1959-02-20) (JOMF-TV)
Last air date
July 24, 2011; 14 years ago (2011-07-24) (JOMF-TV)
Former call signs
JOUR-TV
JOMF-TV
(1959–2011)
Former channel numbers
5 (analog VHF, 1959–2011)
JOMF-TV
10 (analog VHF, 1959–2011)
Technical information
Licensing authority
MIC
Links
Websitewww.nbc-nagasaki.co.jp/tv/

Nagasaki Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (長崎放送株式会社, Nagasaki Hōsō kabushiki gaisha), also known as NBC, is a broadcasting station in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan.[1][2] It founded in 1952, and it is the only commercial broadcasting that provides both TV and radio services in Nagasaki prefecture.[3] Nagasaki Broadcasting is affiliated with the JNN (TV),[4] JRN, NRN (RADIO).

Nagasaki Broadcasting started radio broadcasting in 1953.[5] Its radio station also covers Saga Prefecture by means of a separate radio station (NBC Radio Saga).[6] NBC started television broadcasting in 1959,[7] and started digital terrestrial television broadcasting in 2006.[8] In 2021, NBC moved into its new headquarter,[9][10] and started to use new logo.[11] This network has no correlation to the American broadcaster of the same name despite the identical abbreviations.

Nagasaki Broadcasting, like all Japanese TV stations, ended analog broadcasting on July 24, 2011, as it transitions into full-time digital broadcasting, which started in the early 2000s. The shut down also includes the Sasebo relay (JOMF-TV), which is now incorporated into the main NBC Nagasaki digital feed. While most of JNN's stations air on virtual channel "6" just like mother station, TBS, Nagasaki Broadcasting is one of 6 JNN stations that air their programs on virtual channel "3".

NBC Sasebo Relay Station

[edit]

When the plan to open Radio Sasebo was announced in Nagasaki Prefecture, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (at that time) instructed the government to issue just "one station per prefecture", as in other prefectures. Though the call sign (JOMF) was issued, it was decided to merge after the station opened. With the opening of Radio Sasebo on April 1, 1954, there were temporarily two radio stations in the same prefecture. Six months later, in October 1954, Radio Nagasaki and Radio Sasebo merged. Radio Sasebo became Nagasaki Broadcasting Sasebo Broadcasting Station, but Radio Sasebo's call sign (JOMF) is still used in radio broadcasting (the Sasebo TV relay station gave up using the calls in the 1990s).

In Hamada-cho, Sasebo City, there used to be a three-story station building equipped with TV and radio studios, and even in terms of news coverage, there was a corner where the Sasebo station's own news was broadcast in the news program. In addition, as a parent station of NBC, it did not take the trouble of setting up a relay station, which had a positive effect on costs. There was a good balance of companies in the Nagasaki and Sasebo areas in the commercials as well. However, in the latter half of the 2000s, the Sasebo Broadcasting Station was reorganized into the Sasebo branch office due to a company-wide management review and deterioration of broadcasting equipment. The station building in Hamada-cho was closed and moved to an office building in Matsuura-cho. It seems that the site of the station building was sold to another company.

NBC Radio Saga

[edit]
Main article: NBC Radio Saga

The reason why there is a broadcasting station in Saga is because there was no commercial radio station with a concert hall in Saga Prefecture. It was thought that there was no need to set up a commercial broadcasting station in Saga Prefecture because radio waves from private broadcasting stations in Fukuoka and Kumamoto could be reached (Saga TV, the first private broadcasting station in the prefecture, opened in 1969, and FM Saga opened in 1992 as a purely Saga prefectural station in terms of radio). NBC applied for the establishment of a relay station, noting that Nagasaki Prefecture and Saga Prefecture were in the same Hizen Province, and in 1958, NBC Radio Saga was established. News coverage in Saga Prefecture and the division of the Private Broadcasting Education Association are handled by Nagasaki Broadcasting (via NBC Radio Saga) for radio and RKB Mainichi Broadcasting for television.

History

[edit]

With the promulgation of the Three Radio Laws in 1950 (Radio Law, Broadcasting Law and Radio Supervisory Establishment Committee Law), two commercial radio stations in Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki Peace Broadcasting (長崎平和放送) and Radio Nagasaki (ラジオ長崎) solicited a private broadcasting license. In October that year, the licenses were merged into Nagasaki Peace Broadcasting.[12]: 167  A preliminary license was obtained in December 1951 and began preparations for its launch.[12]: 168  On September 12, 1952, the company was officially registered with a capital of 12.5 million yen. The name was changed to Radio Nagasaki in December (the name of Nagasaki Peace Broadcasting's competing bid).[12]: 168  On February 24, 1953, experimental broadcasts began,[12]: 168  becoming regular on March 1.[12]: 169 

Due to the large distance between Nagasaki, in the south of the prefecture, and Sasebo, in the north, as well as its mountainous terrain, it was near impossible for listeners in the north to pick up broadcasts from NBC.[12]: 172  As consequence, local investors set up Radio Sasebo (ラジオ佐世保) in 1953, with the aim of obtaining a local license to operate.[12]: 172  However, NBC was also interested in establishing a transmitting station there. With the "one station per prefecture" rule imposed by the regulator, a conflict between Radio Sasebo and NBC erupted,[12]: 173  ending in 1954 with Radio Sasebo obtaining its license, while NBC would merge with it only after its broadcasts began.[12]: 173–174  On April 1, 1954, Radio Sasebo began broadcasting,[12]: 174  subsequently merging with NBC on October 1.[12]: 174 。

In 1957, NBC obtained profits for the first time, surpassing 100 billion yen.[12]: 197  That same year, it obtained a broadcasting license in Saga Prefecture.[12]: 197  This became Radio Saga (ラジオ佐賀), whose broadcasts started on August 1, 1958, later renamed NBC Radio Saga (NBCラジオ佐賀). With that, NBC became the only broadcaster in Japan to have licenses for two prefectures.[12]: 198 。

A preliminary television license was obtained in January 1956, to cover both Nagasaki and Sasebo.[12]: 199  In order to begin television work, its capital was raised by 150 million yen in 1958.[12]: 199  Test broadcasts started on December 24, 1958.[12]: 199  On January 1, 1959, at 7am, NBC started television broadcasts to Nagasaki, while on February 20, it started broadcasts to Sasebo.[12]: 199  With the rapid growth of television broadcasting and infrastructure, NBC moved to its current headquarters in 1961. The building has nine floors, one below ground and eight above, with a total area of 6,610 square emters. It cost 480 million yen and was concluded in June 1962. As a result, NBC moved away from the Nagasaki Chamber of Commerce and Industry and now had premises of its own.[12]: 203  At launch in 1953, its revenue was of 47 million yen, rising to 222 million in 1958 and, in 1960, 229 million for radio and 341 million for television.[12]: 208  In 1968, on the eves of the launch of KTN, its revenue was of 311 million yen for radio and 1,828 billion for television, totalling 2,145 billion combined, surpassing the two billion benchmark for the first time.[12]: 208 

The station invited the Vienna Boys' Choir for a performance in Nagasaki in 1961.[12]: 229  Beginning in 1962, it started television coverage of the Nagasaki Kunchi festival.[12]: 214–215  In 1966, the station started broadcasting color programming.[12]: 250  In the ten years before KTN's launch (on April 1, 1969), NBC was the only private television station in the prefecture, airing programs from the commercial networks in Tokyo without facing competition.[12]: 232–234  In 1977, revenue surpassed five billion yen, later, six billion yen in 1979.[12]: 287 

In 1981, the station sold footage of Pope John Paul II's visit to Nagasaki to US network CBS.[12]: 382  By 1983, NBC had more than 100 television transmitters, including in the remote island areas.[12]: 251  After the collapse of the bubble economy and the creation of NCC and NIB in the early 1990s, its operational environment faced serious challenges.[12]: 252  In response, NBC issued a new plan in 2000 to reverse the high cost system.[12]: 252  From 2001, it began holding the NBC Matsuri (NBCまつり) festival during summer, in an attempt to recover its corporate image.[12]: 321 

The company celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Events were held from June 2001 to March 2003, including lots of special programs.[12]: 2–5  In 2003, it unveiled its new mascot, Nanman-kun.[12]: 15  Digital terrestrial broadcasts began on December 1, 2006.[12]: 47–48  In 2008, NBC Matsuri hit a new record, 65,000 attendees.[12]: 79  Analog signals shut down on July 24, 2011.[12]: 107–108 。

In January 2018, it announced that it would move to new headquarters to the west side of Nagasaki Station.[13]: 85  It was concluded on July 30, 2021.[12]: 123  On November 1, it started broadcasting from the new premises.[12]: 124  In preparation for its 70th anniversary, NBC unveiled a new logo in 2021.[13]: 122 。

Radio

[edit]

NBC Radio mainly produces news and information programs such as Hayaban!! Asakara! (早版!! あさかラ!) on weekday mornings,[14] as well Asakara! (あさかラ!),[15] Hirukara!MIX (ひるかラ!MIX)[15] and NBC Radio The Charge (NBCラジオ ザ・チャージ!)[16]。

NBC Radio joined radiko in 2012, enabling internet coverage of its programs.[12]: 130 

Television

[edit]

Initially, NBC TV's news service was shown at 9pm every Sunday evening.[12]: 211  In 1976, it started airing NBC News 6 (NBCニュース6). This was inserted inside the 6pm slot JNN gave for local news programs on weeknights.[12]: 251  Since 2020, the format has been occupied by Pint[13]: 114 [17] NBC also hasda variety information program, Genabane! (げなパネ!), on Wednesdays at 7pm, the only large-scale weeknight program of their own production.[18] Genabane! ended in March 2021.[12]: 127 。

AM to FM transition in Nagasaki and Saga

[edit]

In 2021, as an effort to reduce costs caused by operating AM & FM stations simultaneously, and to improve business performance for all stations, the Ministry of Communications decided that all AM radio stations will be transitioning to Wide-FM broadcasting by 2028.[19] Nagasaki Broadcasting, whose Wide FM service had started in 2015 (and 2016 for relay sister station NBC Radio Saga), is one of the 44 out of 47 stations that are slated to move to Wide FM broadcasting for its radio service, with the first set of AM suspensions happened in February 2024, when NBC Radio Saga (JOUO, 1458kHz) and its AM relays in Karatsu, Arita, and Imari, were shut down for 1 year as part of this demonstration experiment. NBC suggested on its website that listeners in Saga should be able to listen to their Wide FM frequencies (Saga - 93.5MHz, Tosu - 92.1MHz).[20] Also, in December 2025, NBC announced on its website that they will be suspending operations for its Isahaya AM relay until September 30, 2026, with listeners being advised to listen to the station's Wide FM frequency relay for the said area on 91.8MHz.[21]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "長崎放送 グループ事業を再編し、新たな形の地域貢献を". 事業構想. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
  2. ^ "Nagasaki Broadcasting Co Ltd". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
  3. ^ "会社案内". 長崎放送. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
  4. ^ "JNNネットワーク". TBS Holdings. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
  5. ^ "民放ラジオ開局一覧". JBA. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  6. ^ "ＮＢＣラジオ佐賀". 佐賀県高度情報化推進協議会. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  7. ^ "民放テレビ開局一覧". JBA. Retrieved 2023-02-14.
  8. ^ "地上デジタルテレビジョン放送". Nikkei Xtech. 26 July 2006. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  9. ^ "NBC 長崎放送新社屋". ypmc. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  10. ^ "2021年11月1日 長崎放送本社移転「NBCビル」オープン". 長崎放送. 31 October 2021. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
  11. ^ "NBC、新たにC（コーポレー I ト・アイデンティティ）を制定。" (PDF). 長崎放送. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap 長崎放送 (2013). 『長崎放送60年史』. 長崎縣: 長崎放送.
  13. ^ a b c 長崎放送 (2023). 『長崎放送70年史』. 長崎縣: 長崎放送.
  14. ^ "ja:早版 !! あさかラ！" (in Japanese). 長崎放送. Archived from the original on 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  15. ^ a b あさかラ！ (in Japanese). 長崎放送. Archived from the original on 2020-07-08. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  16. ^ NBCラジオ ザ・チャージ！ (in Japanese). 長崎放送. Archived from the original on 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  17. ^ Pint (in Japanese). 長崎放送. Archived from the original on 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  18. ^ "げなパネ!" (in Japanese). 長崎放送. Archived from the original on 2020-08-07. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  19. ^ "44 of 47 AM radio stations in Japan to switch to FM by 2028". mainichi.jp/english. June 16, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  20. ^ "佐賀県のみなさまへ ～NBCラジオのAM放送は休止中です！～". nbc-nagasaki.co.jp. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
  21. ^ "NBCラジオ 諫早AM放送 運用休止のお知らせ". nbc-nagasaki.co.jp. Retrieved November 8, 2025.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nagasaki_Broadcasting&oldid=1323380509"