NHK World expands into global TV role

chris

NHK is going global with its ‘NHK World English' news and information channel.

NHK is Japan's publicly-funded broadcaster, with NHK World English being a new venture to take English-language news around the planet from a Japanese perspective. NHK already has very successful Japanese news channels on air (on Eutelsat's Hotbird over Europe, and Echostar's Dish system) but these are premium services target at Japanese expatriates (TV Japan, JSTV and NHK World Premium).

The channel, which will be re-launched globally next February, is a direct result of a fresh government brief for NHK to expand its global broadcasting remit.

NHK World English has just secured carriage space on Arabsat, and is now seeking European and African coverage. NHK World already exists in terms of a comprehensive web-site offering text and video-based news for users. The broadcast channel, bizarrely, already has cable carriage in some parts of the USA, especially in and around the Washington DC area helped by its transmissions on digital Channel 6 terrestrially which gives the service ‘must carry' carriage on Comcast, Cox, Verizon and RCN systems in the region.


Source rapid TV News