JOIX-DTV (channel 10), branded as , is the
Kansai region flagship station
In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyalt ...
of the
Nippon News Network and the
Nippon Television Network System, owned by the subsidiary of the eponymous
Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings, Japan's largest media conglomerate; Yomiuri TV forms part of Yomiuri's main television broadcasting arm alongside
Kantō region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...
flagship
Nippon TV
JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as , is the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned-and-operated by the which is a subsidiary of the certified broadcasting holding company , itself a listed su ...
, which owns a 15.89% share in the company. Founded as on February 13, 1958, and renamed Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation on August 1, the station started broadcasting on August 28 as the first TV station to be affiliated with Nippon Television Network Corporation. Its studios are located in the Osaka Business Park district of
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
.
History
Early years
Nippon TV applied for TV broadcasting licenses in Osaka and Nagoya after it began broadcasting in 1953, but the Ministry of Post declined the application on the grounds that "Nippon TV is a Tokyo channel, and applying for licenses in other regions is an act of crossing the boundary."
At the time, Osaka had only one privately owned television station, Osaka TV Broadcasting (later merged with
Asahi Broadcasting). However, because the majority of its programming mostly came from KRT (now TBS), Nippon Television and its parent company, Yomiuri Shimbun Group, began to try to establish their own television station in Osaka.
Yomiuri Shimbun filed for a broadcasting license as Shin-Osaka TV in November 1956.
In addition to Yomiuri Shimbun, eight other newspapers, including those from Asahi, Mainichi, Sankei, Kobe, and Kyoto, applied for TV broadcasting licenses in the Kansai region at the time, and only two licenses were issued, indicating that rivalry was fierce.
To ease the overheated competition, the Ministry of Post decided to grant an additional broadcasting license in the Osaka are