Saga Television Station (株式会社サガテレビ), branded since 2015 as Saga TV, is the only commercial television station broadcasting to

Saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square (video game company), Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, ...

. The station is affiliated to FNN and FNS since the station launched. Despite holding a local

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

in commercial television to the prefecture, commercial television stations from

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

are easily available.

History

Prior to the opening of the bidding for a new commercial broadcaster in Saga Prefecture, people living in the area tended to listen to radio or watch TV programming with antennas pointing to either Kumamoto or Fukuoka Prefectures, due to the fact that there are no mountains surrounding the nearby mentioned prefectures. There were multiple attempts to request a broadcast license to open a commercial broadcaster in Saga Prefecture, but all were rejected.It wasn't until 1967 that the Ministry of Post included Saga in the UHF allocation. The three companies that initially applied for a license were consolidated into Saga Broadcasting Corporation, and later obtained the license on November 1 of the same year.The company name was later changed to Saga Television Station on May 28, 1968. Before the broadcaster started its operations, TV sets in Japan were required to have the capability to receive UHF channels. In Saga Prefecture, only 30% of the population had TVs with UHF receivers, which pushed them to promote UHF TVs. The campaign was deemed successful, that 60% already had UHF capable TVs. Since

Nishinippon Shimbun The is a Japanese language daily newspaper published by the . As of 2022, it had a circulation of about 467,000 (total of morning and evening editions). It is headquartered in Fukuoka, which accounts for the bulk of its circulation, and is also ...

had played a role in the founding of Saga TV, the broadcaster then decided to be part of the

Fuji News Network Fuji News Network (FNN) is a Japanese commercial television network run by Fuji Television Network, Inc., part of the Fujisankei Communications Group. The network's responsibility includes the syndication of national television news bulletins to ...

, which is funded by the mentioned newspaper and

Television Nishinippon Corporation is a Japanese TV station affiliated with Fuji News Network (FNN) and Fuji Network System (FNS) in Fukuoka. This station serves Fukuoka Prefecture and also acts as the default FNN affiliate for western portions of Yamaguchi Prefecture including ...

. *April 1, 1969 - STS begins broadcasting on UHF channel 36. *1994 - STS moves their

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

. *December 1, 2006 - Digital broadcasts begin, the station was assigned to channel 44 and the remote control key is channel 3. *July 24, 2011 -

Analog transmission Analog transmission is a transmission method of conveying information using a continuous signal which varies in amplitude, phase, or some other property in proportion to that information. It could be the transfer of an analog signal, using an ana ...

s cease. *January 1, 2015 - The station is

rebranded Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...

as SAGA TV.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Fuji News Network Television stations in Japan Television channels and stations established in 1969