RKB Mainichi Broadcasting
RKB Mainichi Broadcasting Corporation (RKB 毎日放送株式会社, RKB Mainichi Hōsō Kabushiki Gaisha) (stylized as +rkb) is a broadcasting station located in Fukuoka, Japan. It is affiliated with the Japan Radio Network (JRN) and the Japan News Network (JNN). The company is owned by the MBS Media Holdings, Mainichi Shimbun, and the Aso Group. The initials RKB stand for Radio Kyushu Broadcasting (ラジオ九州放送, Rajio Kyūshū Hōsō), the station's former name.[1][2] HistoryIn 1950, following the enactment of the Radio Law, Mainichi Shimbun sought to establish three radio stations in Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka. Its application for the Tokyo area was later merged with those of other national newspapers and Dentsu, forming Radio Tokyo. In the Osaka area, Mainichi Shimbun applied to establish a station under the name New Japan Broadcasting (later renamed Mainichi Broadcasting), and in Fukuoka Prefecture, under the name Radio Kyushu.[3]: 12 A license for JOFR was issued on 21 April 1951, and the company was formally established on 29 June. Radio Kyushu began operations on 1 December of the same year. Radio Kyushu was one of the first 72 companies in Japan to apply for a license to establish a private radio station.[3]: 10 In addition to Mainichi Shimbun, Radio Kyushu received investment from local companies such as Nippon Steel and Kyushu Electric Power.[3]: 16 The headquarters was also located in Kyushu Electric Power's building.[3]: 21 On 12 April 1951, Radio Kyushu received a preliminary license,[3]: 10 and on 7 October of the same year, it began trial broadcasting.[3]: 39 On 1 December, Radio Kyushu officially launched, becoming the first private radio station in Kyushu and the fourth private radio station in Japan.[3]: 29 In its first month of broadcasting, Radio Kyushu achieved a profit of 500,000 yen.[3]: 44 The station’s first-generation trademark was selected through an open competition in 1952. The designer was Hatano Yoshiko, a middle school student in Oita Prefecture.[3]: 45 In December 1952, Radio Kyushu established the Ogura broadcasting station, which became Japan's first privately owned radio relay station.[3]: 98–99 In July 1953, Radio Kyushu established a labor union.[3]: 41 RKB began television broadcasts on 1 March 1958. At the same time, the station merged with Mainichi Seibu Television (tentative call sign JOGX-TV, later reassigned in 2013 after CBC TV spun off). As a result, the planned JOGX station was launched as the Kitakyushu satellite station (JOFO-TV). RKB began broadcasting a digital signal on 1 July 2006. The station ended its analog programming at noon on 24 July 2011, the date by which all television stations in Japan were required to discontinue analog broadcasts per federal mandate. Right before shutting off their analog broadcasts at 23:59, RKB aired a video montage showcasing its analog history, with Taro Hakase's "The Cozy Bench" as the background music.[4] StationRadio
TV (Analog)
TV (Digital)
ProgramAnimeTV
Other TV stations in Fukuoka
References
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