Product Code Database
, stylized in all-uppercase in Japanese is a satellite broadcasting and premium satellite television station owned and operated by 株式会社WOWOW. Its headquarters are located on the 21st floor of the Akasaka Park Building in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo." Company Information." Wowow. Retrieved on March 1, 2025. "The Head Office 21F, Akasaka Park Building, 5-2-20, Akasaka, Minato-ku Tokyo 107-6121 Tel. 81-3-4330-8111 Wowow Inc. Map." and "2-1-58, Tatsumi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0053" Addresses in Japanese: "東京都港区赤坂5-2-20 赤坂パークビル21F" and "東京都江東区辰巳2-1-58"" Head office." ( Direct image link) Wowow. Retrieved on November 20, 2010. Map in Japanese ( Direct link) Its broadcasting center is in Koto, Tokyo." Broadcasting Center." ( Direct image link) Wowow. Retrieved on November 20, 2010. Map in Japanese ( Direct link)
The channel's name is a double "Wow", and the three W's also stand for "World-Wide-Watching".
By 1992, Wowow had 800,000 subscribers. At the time, foreign feature films, mainly American, made up 40% of its schedule, and had US actor Harrison Ford as its spokesman.By Jacob M Schlesinger and,Yumiko Ono. (1992, Jun 18). Japan's Satellite Channels Buy American --- Need for Programming Gives U.S. Suppliers a Chance at Export Success. Asian Wall Street Journal One of its earliest hits was the cult US series Twin Peaks, having aired several cycles of all 28 episodes by July 1992, and was responsible for nearly 30% of new subscriptions.Andrew Pollack 1992, New York Times,News Service. (1992, Jul 19). 'Twin Peaks' Revisited: Japanese Exhume Laura Palmer: L5. St.Louis Post - Dispatch (Pre-1997 Fulltext)
The network entered fiscal 1993 accumulating a debt of 40 million yen, accused on poor management, and causing delays to the launch of four private competitors.do Rosario, L. (1993). Poor reception: Japan's Wowow TV struggles under weak management. Far Eastern Economic Review, 156(19), 71.
Digital broadcasting began on December 1, 2000. The network began with 207,753 subscribers (31.5 billion yen in sales), growing to 2,667,414 two years later (64.5 billion yen in sales). As of December 2011, Wowow claimed approximately 2.56 million subscribers to its digital service.Wowow Inc. (2011). Business Summary: Subscription. Accessed on January 31, 2012. On July 24, 2011, Wowow shut down its analog signals.
Previously, Wowow's headquarters were in another facility in Akasaka." Corporate Information." Wowow. April 13, 2008. Retrieved on November 20, 2010. "1-5-8, Moto Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8080" Japanese address: "東京都港区元赤坂1-5-8"
On October 1, 2011, Wowow expanded their single channel broadcast satellite service to provide four high-definition TV channels:Wowow Inc. (2011). Business Company Information WOWOW Inc. Accessed on January 31, 2012. Wowow Prime (WOWOWプライム), a general entertainment channel, Wowow Live (WOWOWライブ), covering sports, documentaries, movies and live performances, Wowow Cinema (WOWOWシネマ), a 24-hour movie channel and Wowow Plus. This last channel, formerly known as Cinéfil Wowow, broadcasts on channel 250 and adopted its current name on December 1, 2020.
Wowow also operated a 4K channel which launched in March 2021 and closed on February 28, 2025.
Wowow also broadcasts Japanese-dubbed United States television series such as Friends, , Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Cold Case, Grey's Anatomy, Medium, The 4400, Animaniacs, South Park, and The Simpsons, among others. Wowow has also screened Ultimate Fighting Championship events for Japanese audiences, the British comedy sketch show Little Britain, as well as the British drama/action show Ultimate Force under the name SAS: British Special Forces.
Wowow began producing original live-action TV series in 2003. The series called "Drama W" includes works such as Penance, xxxHolic, The Grand Family, Futagashira and .
|
|
