TX Network
TXN Network[JAITS|] is a commercial television network in Japan owned by TV Tokyo Corporation, a subsidiary of TV Tokyo Holdings, which itself is majority controlled by Nikkei, Inc. The "TX" is taken from the callsign of its flagship station, TV Tokyo. It is also known as TV Tokyo Network.
Overview
It is named "TXN" because of the call sign of TV Tokyo, its key station, JOTX-DTV. The official name of the network is "TXN Network", and its abbreviation is "TXNN", with the "N" part intentionally duplicated with "Network", or it could also be News and Nationwide due to ambiguous meanings. There is no official explanation about the meaning. For that reason, it is sometimes called by various aliases such as TX Network, TV Tokyo Network, TV Tokyo keiretsu, and TXN keiretsu.Unlike other networks, it is a network that has not been distinguished from news networks, program supply networks, and network organizations since the era of the former name "Mega TON Network".
Also, before TXN was officially launched, there were secondary affiliations with other stations. Chukyo Television in the complex network era and Mainichi Broadcasting in the era before the affiliation change correspond to this. First of all, the former was initially based on TV Asahi, but the Chunichi Shimbun invests in the principle of eliminating concentration. Since it was not possible to do so, it was decided to receive investment from Nihon Keizai Shimbun, so there was a network relationship with Tokyo 12 Channel → TV Tokyo. Chukyo TV subsequently joined NNN in April 1973, then NNS and became a full Nippon Television affiliated station, but until the opening of TV Aichi in 1983, partly with three other wide-area stations continued the cross-net station until the net change. After that, Mainichi Broadcasting moved to the TBS affiliation station due to the network change, but from the remnants of the swap era, even after the transition to TBS, Tokyo 12 Channel → Listed as a major shareholder of TV Tokyo, and is still listed in the top 10 major shareholders of TV Tokyo Holdings. Conversely, programs produced by Mainichi Broadcasting were sometimes broadcast on TV Tokyo only in the Kanto region. Since TXN was officially launched on April 1, 1989, there have been no crossnet stations with other affiliates.
The stations affiliated with TXN are all TV stations.
The TXN network is one of Japan's five major commercial networks that does not have a page for breaking news.
History
Tokyo Channel 12 almost went into bankruptcy in 1968. At the time, a television production company was established, with two companies, business newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun and the Mainichi Broadcasting System having a central role in the investment. At this time, MBS was affiliated to NET TV, which carried out a "key station declaration" at the request of Nikkei, in the form of cross-networking with Tokyo Channel 12 and NET, in October 1969. Both channels either signed a network, or launched a co-production program, by, for example, each other to supply the programs from both stations, to strengthen the relationship. However, the relationship involving MBS and Tokyo Channel 12 disappeared on March 31, 1975, when MBS and ABC swapped their affiliations. Tokyo Channel 12 became an independent channel and remained that way until the start of the 80s.Then, on March 1, 1982, TV Osaka became the first affiliate stations of what came to be TV Tokyo's network of stations. The new network was named Mega TON Network. Although "Mega TON" initially stood for "Megalopolis Tokyo-Osaka Network", the "N" also meant Nagoya, where a third station was planned. TV Aichi began broadcasting on September 1, 1983. Also, the "Megalopolis Song Festival" was once broadcast featuring the name of the network.
On October 1, 1985, a fourth station covering Okayama and Kagawa, named TV Setouchi, started broadcasting. However, the name Mega TON Network continued to be used, as it also meant "T" for Takamatsu and "O" for Okayama, after their respective capitals.
Because of the expansion, the network changed names on April 1, 1989, to TXN Network. The catchphrase at the time was "Can you feel your hot heartbeat?". In connection with the changes, the name "TV Tokyo Network" was also used in magazines at the time, but "TXN Network" was also used in TV commercials. At the same time as the birth of the new network, the popular name "TX" was officially established as an abbreviation. At the same time, TV Tokyo gained the TX abbreviation from the station's calls. Television Hokkaido in Hokkaido and TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting in Fukuoka began broadcasting in 1989 and 1991, respectively. The network gained their current shape of six stations.
List of stations
Stations are listed mostly in Japanese order of prefectures which is mirrored in ISO 3166-2:JP, with exceptions for the Kantō region, Aichi-Gifu-Mie, Kansai region and Okayama-Kagawa, which form single wide broadcasting markets respectively.Areas without a TXN station
There is no affiliate in the Tohoku, mostly of Chubu and Kansai, mostly of Shikoku and Chugoku, mostly in Kyushu and Okinawa regions. In prefectures without a TXN station, a selection of TV Tokyo programs are syndicated to other stations in the prefecture.Expansion plans
TXN faces difficulties to expand nationwide, especially in the prefectures of Miyagi, Niigata, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Hiroshima, and Kumamoto, which have ordinance-designated cities, and even now there are no affiliated stations. Also, among the ordinance-designated cities belonging to those prefectures, Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka City is covered by TV Tokyo, Hamamatsu City is covered by TV Aichi, and in many areas between Kyoto City, Kobe City, and Hanshin, Hyogo Prefecture, viewers can receive TV Osaka directly or via cable television, and in the western part of Kobe City viewers can receive TV Setouchi directly, but in other areas it is impossible to receive the broadcasts of TXN affiliated stations.5-prefecture expansion plan
At the president's regular press conference on May 31, 2007, the goal was to complete the following in advance to the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting on July 24, 2011:- Opening a new station in Miyagi Prefecture or expanding the detached area of TV Tokyo
- Opening a new station in Hiroshima Prefecture or expanding the area of TV Setouchi, an existing affiliated station in neighboring prefectures
- Opening a new station in Shizuoka Prefecture or expanding the area of TV Tokyo or TV Aichi, which are affiliated stations in neighboring prefectures
- Expand the broadcasting area of TV Osaka, an existing affiliated station in neighboring prefectures to Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures.
The company's governance announced plans to achieve these goals. However, this was a mere suggestion by Sugaya, and was never implemented officially as a business plan.
In an overview of the 40th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on TV Tokyo held on June 20, 2008, the company responded that it was "difficult in the current business environment" regarding the expansion of the area that can be seen, and since then it has not shown any new movements.
Direct reception and distribution by cable TV
The 6 TXN affiliated stations are broadcast only in 13 prefectures, but even outside the target area directly with a para stack antenna etc. Many households are watching TXN affiliated broadcasting stations, by methods such as spillover reception. In Kinki and Tokai, since before the opening of affiliated stations TV Osaka and TV Aichi, there is a mutual network relationship with independent prefectural regional stations in neighboring prefectures, so the consent of the local independent prefectural regional stations could not be obtained. There are stations that do not distribute cable TV due to technical reasons such as difficult reception from relay points, such as Hida in Gifu Prefecture, and Iga and Kumano in Mie Prefecture.TX availability status
TX has the same number of relay stations as NHK and the four leading wide-area commercial broadcasting stations in Tokyo, including the islands of Tokyo. In the Tokyo Channel 12 era, there were fewer relay stations than the starting station because there were no latecomers, educational stations, or affiliated stations.Outside the area, viewers in most of Yamanashi Prefecture, a part of the eastern part of Shizuoka Prefecture, almost the eastern half of Nagano Prefecture, a small part of Niigata Prefecture, and a small part of Fukushima Prefecture can receive TX directly or by subscribing to cable television.
Kinki area
TV Osaka exists in a wide area, but only Osaka Prefecture is the service area due to the balance between terrestrialindependent TV stations in surrounding prefectures and the four leading wide-area broadcasters. A frequency was assigned as a prefectural broadcasting station. For this reason, there were many areas in Osaka where radio waves from the transmitting station on Mt. Ikoma could not be heard, so multiple independent relay stations were installed in Osaka.
There are areas where it can be received directly or by rebroadcasting outside the area, but Wakayama Prefecture did not obtain the consent of TV Wakayama, It was not received in all areas from the analog era, and Shiga Prefecture was also received in some areas during the analog era, but it was discontinued due to technical problems after the complete abolition of analog broadcasting.