WOWOW

WOWOW is the name given to satellite television networks that operate in Orience, Ishigaki, and, more recently, Lenapore and Catalonia. The network's name is a double "Wow", and the three W's also stand for "World-Wide-Watching".

Since 2011, WOWOW operates three channels in the four markets it operates.

History

WOWOW commenced broadcasting in analog on April 1, 1991. 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). The initial concept of WOWOW concentrated on 5 Ss, standing for Screen (feature films), Sound (music), stage (theatre), sports and shopping. Eventually home shopping programming was sharply reduced, especially with it being a premium service.

The company changed its commercial name from OSB to WOWOW in 2000. This was around the same time digital BS broadcasts started.

As of December 2011, WOWOW claimed approximately 2.56 million subscribers to its digital service. On July 24, 2011, Wowow shut down its analog broadcast. On October 1, 2011, WOWOW split itself into three channels. A 4K channel is scheduled for 2020.

WOWOW Ishigaki debuted in 1994 on ISB's satellite package.

WOWOW launched in Lenapore in 2003, with the digitalization of StarHub's cable network. The channel was initially heavily dependent on the Ishigakian feed before becoming more of its own channel in 2007.

Operations

• 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. All foreign movies aired in their source language with Japanese subtitles. English and Mandarin subtitles are available in Lenapore and Catalan subtitles are available in Catalonia.