Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting

JOIF-DTV
Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan;
City	Fukuoka
Channels	Digital: 31 (UHF); Virtual: 1;
Branding	KBC Television
Programming
Affiliations	All-Nippon News Network
Ownership
Owner	Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting Co., Ltd.
History
First air date	1 March 1959
Former call signs	JOIF-TV (1959–2011)
Former channel number(s)	Analog: 1 (VHF, 1959–2011)
Former affiliations	Fuji TV (1 March 1959–30 September 1964)
Call sign meaning	Ichi (Channel 1) Fukuoka
Technical information
Licensing authority	MIC
Transmitter coordinates	33°35′35.7″N 130°21′5.3″E / 33.593250°N 130.351472°E
Links
Website	kbc.co.jp/tv/
Corporate information
	Company
Native name	九州朝日放送株式会社
Romanized name	Kyūshū Asahi Hōsō Kabushiki Gaisha
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Radio and television network
Founded	1 April 2022; 2 years ago (as Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting Split Preparation Co., Ltd.)
Headquarters	Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
Owner	KBC Group Holdings
Website	kbc.co.jp

JOIF
Fukuoka;
Broadcast area	Fukuoka Prefecture
Frequency	1413 kHz AM; 90.2 MHz FM
Branding	KBC Radio
Programming
Language(s)	Japanese
Format	Talk, Sports
Affiliations	NRN
Ownership
Owner	Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting Co., Ltd.
History
First air date	1 January 1954
Call sign meaning	Ichi (1) Fukuoka
Technical information
Power	50 kW
Links
Webcast	Radiko
Website	kbc.co.jp/radio/

KBC Group Holdings Co., Ltd.
	Headquarters in Fukouka
Native name	KBCグループホールディングス株式会社
Romanized name	KBC Gurūpu Hōrudingusu
Formerly	Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (1953-2023)
Company type	kabushiki gaisha
Industry	Media;
Founded	21 August 1953; 71 years ago
Key people	Yasushi Waki; (President & CEO)
Services	Broadcast television;
Owner	The Asahi Shimbun (19.20%); TV Asahi Holdings Corporation (4.00%)
Subsidiaries	Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting
Website	kbc.co.jp/kbc-ghd/

Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (九州朝日放送株式会社, Kyūshū Asahi Hōsō Kabushiki Gaisha) is a broadcasting station in Fukuoka, Japan, affiliated with National Radio Network (NRN) on radio and All-Nippon News Network (ANN) on TV.

With its relay transmitters in Saga,^[2] KBC functions as the default ANN affiliate for the said prefecture, as that area does not have an ANN affiliate of its own.

History

Early history

After the establishment of the "Three Radio Laws" (Radio Law, Broadcasting Law, and Radio Supervisory Committee Establishment Law) in 1950, Japan established a system where public broadcasting (NHK) and commercial broadcasting coexisted.^[1]^: 4–5

Among the 16 companies that were able to receive the license, two of them are from Fukuoka Prefecture: Radio Kyushu (later renamed RKB Mainichi Broadcasting) and Nishinippon Broadcasting (not related to RNC in Kagawa Prefecture).^[1]^: 7 However, due to the latter failing to raise enough funds, the license was then returned in January 1952.^[1]^: 11 But the then founders of Nishinippon Broadcasting, Shigetomo Nakahara, did not give up and applied for a radio broadcasting license in 1953, which was then granted on May of the same year.^[1]^: 12–14 With financial support from the Asahi Shimbun, Nishinippon Broadcasting was then renamed to Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting on 18 August 1953.^[1]^: 21

Founding

Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting then opened on 21 August 1953^[3] with its headquarters initially located in the Asahiya Department Store in Kurume City.^[1]^: 22–23 On 24 December 1953, KBC began trial radio broadcasts,^[1]^: 24 which officially started broadcasting on New Year's Day of 1954.^[1]^: 25

In 1956, KBC received an expansion license for its radio broadcast to extend its coverage to whole of Fukuoka.^[1]^: 52–53As part of its radio expansion, they permanently moved their headquarters to the Hananoseki Building in Nakasu, Fukuoka City on 30 November 1956.^[1]^{: 57–58, 60}

Expansion to television broadcasting

In October 1956, KBC applied for a TV broadcasting license for the Fukuoka City and Kokura areas.^[1]^: 73 However, at that time, multiple companies applied for a TV license in the prefecture. Under the mediation of the Ministry of Post (currently the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications), KBC received their license on 22 October 1957.^[1]^: 78–82

After obtaining their license, KBC then planned to move its headquarters to Nagahama, Fukuoka City in order to meet the facility requirements for TV broadcasting.^[1]^: 91 Prior to the start of TV broadcasting, KBC management made it clear it will broadcast as a dual affiliate to both Fuji TV and Nippon Educational Television (NET) (current TV Asahi).^[1]^: 96 On 15 July 1958, KBC established its relay transmitter in Kokura City in Kitakyushu as part of its preparations for TV broadcasting.^[1]^: 63

KBC started its TV operations on 1 March 1959 at 10am.^[1]^: 98 At that time it allotted to air at least 70% of programs from Nippon Educational Television and 30% of programs from Fuji TV.^[1]^{: 100–101} In July 1961, KBC obtained another license for the whole of Kitakyushu City in Fukuoka and started to place its relay transmitters on Mount Sarakura.^[1]^: 120 Fuji TV programming has been dropped completely on the TV schedules of KBC on 1 October 1964 after Television Nishinippon decided to become part of FNN/FNS as their primary affiliate.^[1]^: 120 This resulted to the increase of the time allotment for NET programming to 78%, with local programming increased to 22%.^[1]^{: 139–145} Color TV started on 1 April 1967.^[1]^{: 159, 161}

In 1969, the Fukuoka District Court requested four television stations, including KBC (the other three being RKB Mainichi Broadcasting, Television Nishinippon, and NHK Fukuoka), to submit news footage of college students protesting the docking of a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at Sasebo Port, but Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting refused to do so on the grounds that it infringed on press freedom. The newsreel was returned in December of the same year.^[1]^: 196

1970s - present

In 1978, KBC opened its first ANN News Bureau in Vienna.^[1]^: 226 KBC started TV broadcasting in stereo sound since 1982.^[1]^{: 323–324} On 1 April 1987, KBC opened its current headquarters.^[4] KBC then achieved broadcasting for 24 hours everyday since 1 April 1996.^[3] KBC started digital TV broadcasting on 1 December 2006 and stopped analog broadcasting on 24 July 2011.^[3] As of 1 April 2023, KBC became a certified holding company.^[5] As a result, KBC became an indirect subsidiary of KBC Group Holdings.

Programming

During its early years on TV, KBC produced a short 15 minute local news bulletin.^[1]^: 99 In 1978, KBC began airing a proper local news bulletin which was named as KBC News Plaza.^[1]^: 408 Currently their local news program is known as Shiritaka!, which started airing in 2018.

Asadesu(アサデス。)
Super J Channel Kyushu/Okinawa(スーパーJチャンネル九州･沖縄)
KBC News Pia(KBCニュースピア)
Kyushu Kaido Story
Ruriiro no Sunadokei(るり色の砂時計)
Fukuoka Marathon
National High School Baseball Fukuoka Regional Tournament
Vana H Cup KBC Augusta

References

^ ^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 九州朝日放送30年史 [30 Years of Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting]. Kyūshū Asahi Broadcasting. 1983. OCLC 834675110.
^ "KBC TV Coverage Map". KBC Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting (in Japanese). 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c "沿革｜会社概要｜KBC九州朝日放送" [History of KBC]. Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting (in Japanese). 27 August 2021. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^ "KBCビル". kbckaihatsu.co.jp. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^ "Approval of Certified Broadcasting Holding Company". MIC. 8 March 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2024.