Kansai Telecasting Corporation

Establishing the plans for first channels

In 1952, when the Ministry of Posts announced the first channel plan for Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, "TV Osaka" (テレビ大阪, unrelated to the current Television Osaka) initiated by the Sankei Shimbun, as well as Kyoto Broadcasting System and Kobe Broadcasting, applied for a TV license in the Osaka area. However, the TV license in the Osaka area was later obtained by Osaka TV Broadcasting, a joint operation of Asahi Broadcasting and New Japan Broadcasting (now Mainichi Broadcasting System). Afterwards, when the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications released a new channel frequency plan again, the Sankei Shimbun and Hankyu Electric Railway applied for a TV license in the name of "Kansai TV Broadcasting" (Japanese: 関西テレビ放送) to apply for a TV license in its name. The two were integrated into "Dai Kansai TV Broadcasting" (大関西テレビ放送) in June 1957, and obtained a TV license on July 8 of the same year. On February 1, 1958, the Great Kansai TV Broadcasting Formally established, and changed the company name to "Kansai Telecasting Corporation" in July of the same year. With the completion of the signal launch station in September 1958 and the completion of the headquarters building in October, the conditions for KTV to start broadcasting were ripe.

1958: KTV starts broadcasts

At 16:30 on November 22, 1958, Kansai Telecasting officially started broadcasting. The first program broadcast was "This is Commercial" (これがコマーシャルだ) which lasted for one and a half hours, introducing the general situation of KTV and the information from East and West House. The History of Advertising From Beginning to Broadcast TV Advertising. On the evening of the first day of the broadcast, the commemorative performance held at the Umeda Theater, as well as movies and news programs were broadcast. At the beginning of the broadcast, since Kansai TV did not join any network, 95% of KTV's programs were self-made except for news. It was not until Tokai Television in December of the same year and Fuji Television and Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting's television division in March of the following year that KTV had the support of a network, and was able to reduce the number of self-produced programs to save costs, and the proportion of self-produced programs was also reduced to about 40%. KTV also participated in the 1959 broadcast of the wedding of the crown prince (the current emperor) Akihito and Michiko Masada. This wedding also became a major opportunity for the popularization of television in Japanese households[8]:14. KTV also achieved the first program broadcast from the seabed in the Japanese private TV industry in this year, and won the People's Congress Award for this. were broadcast. At the beginning of the broadcast, since KTV did not join any network, 95% of KTV's programs were self-made except for news.

1960-2002: Growth, network formation and headquarters move

Because Hankyu Electric Railway was one of the main shareholders of KTV, the Hosei Opera became an important program resource of the channel in its early days. In 1961, the average audience rating of Kansai Telecasting during the prime time reached 16.3%, and it was the first time it was rated first place in the Kansai area. With the rapid development of Japan's economy, TV advertising expenses also increased rapidly, and Kansai TV's advertising revenue also increased rapidly. In 1959, Kansai Television Station turned losses into profits the following year, and in 1967, it achieved zero debts. In October 1968, it was the first to rank first in the operating income of Osaka's four private four stations. The program production capacity of Kansai TV Station also improved simultaneously during this period. The finale of the TV series "Udon" (うどん) aired in 1967 set a record of 49.3% ratings, which is the only broadcast on Kansai TV to achieve the record for highest ratings so far except for sports events. In September 1964, KTV broadcast its first color program "Thunderbolt Boat", and broadcast its first color production in 1967. In 1969, Kansai TV realized 60% of the prime-time programs in color, and in November of the following year, all the prime-time programs were in color. KTV sent 30 people to participate in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics interview activities, and used color TV to broadcast some events.