Japan switches off analogue TV – almost
July 25, 2011
By Chris Forrester
Japan has switched off its analogue TV signals, except for some of the prefectures hardest hit by the earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. Those prefectures affected will switch off on March 31st next year. The rest of the nation went all-digital at midnight on July 24th.
Masayuki Matsumoto, NHK’s President, and Michisada Hirose, President of the National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan, held a joint press conference in Tokyo. Matsumoto said: “Since the launch of television broadcasting in 1953, the vast majority of Japanese have enjoyed watching TV through analogue terrestrial television. I, together with our directors, witnessed the termination of analogue programmes at NHK’s technical operation room.”
NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, says it has invested about ¥400 billion (€3.6bn) to digitise its transmissions.