RKB Mainichi Broadcasting

RKB Mainichi Broadcasting Corporation (RKB毎日放送株式会社, RKB Mainichi Hōsō Kabushiki Gaisha) (stylized as ⁺rkb) is a broadcasting station located in Fukuoka, Japan. It is affiliated with the Japan Radio Network (JRN) and the Japan News Network (JNN). The company is owned by the MBS Media Holdings, Mainichi Shimbun, and the Aso Group.

RKB Mainichi Holdings Corporation

Trade name	RKB
Native name	株式会社RKB毎日ホールディングス
Romanized name	Kabushikigaisha RKB Mainichi hōrudingusu
Formerly	Radio Kyushu Co., Ltd. (1951-1958) RKB Mainichi Broadcasting Corporation (1958-2016)
Company type	Public KK
Traded as	FSE: 9407
Industry	Media
Founded	June 29, 1951; 73 years ago (1951-06-29) (as Radio Kyushu Broadcasting) August 1, 1958; 66 years ago (1958-08-01) (as RKB Mainichi Broadcasting)
Headquarters	2-3-8 Momochihama, Sawara-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture , Japan
Key people	Ryoji Inoue (President and Representative Director; RKB Mainichi Holdings) Izumi Sato (President and Representative Director; RKB Mainichi Broadcasting)
Owner	MBS Media Holdings (90.3%) The Mainichi Newspapers (8.63%) TBS Holdings (6.38%)
Subsidiaries	RKB Mainichi Broadcasting
Website	rkb.jp/holdings
Footnotes / references Data from its Corporate Profile

JOFO

Fukuoka
Broadcast area	Fukuoka Prefecture
Frequency	1278 kHz (AM); 91.0 MHz (FM)
Branding	RKB Radio
Programming
Language	Japanese
Format	Talk/Sports
Affiliations	Japan Radio Network
Ownership
Owner	RKB Mainichi Broadcasting Corporation
History
Call sign meaning	JO Fukuoka Radio or FouR (channel number)
Technical information
Licensing authority	MIC
Links
Website	rkb.jp/radio_top/

JOFR-DTV
JOFO-TV (defunct)

Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
City	Fukuoka
Channels	Digital: 30 (UHF) Virtual: 4
Branding	RKB Television
Programming
Affiliations	Japan News Network
Ownership
Owner	RKB Mainichi Broadcasting Corporation
History
First air date	March 1, 1958; 67 years ago (1958-03-01)
Last air date	July 24, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-07-24) (JOFO-TV)
Former call signs	JOFR-TV (1958–2011)
Former channel number(s)	4 (analog VHF, 1958–2011) JOFO-TV: 8 (analog VHF, 1958–2011)
Former affiliations	NTV/NNN (secondary, 1964-1969)
Technical information
Licensing authority	MIC
Transmitter coordinates	33°35′34.285″N 130°21′3.161″E
Links
Website	rkb.jp/tv_top/
Company
Native name	RKB毎日放送株式会社
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Radio and television network
Founded	September 29, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-09-29) (as RKB Mainichi Division Preparation Corporation)
Headquarters	Fukuoka, Japan
Owner	RKB Mainichi Holdings
Website	rkb.jp

The initials RKB stand for Radio Kyushu Broadcasting (ラジオ九州放送, Rajio Kyūshū Hōsō), the station's former name.^[1][2]

History

RKB Mainichi Broadcasting's pre-1979 logo

In 1950, following the enactment of the Radio Law, Mainichi Shimbun sought to establish three radio stations in Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka. Its application for the Tokyo area was later merged with those of other national newspapers and Dentsu, forming Radio Tokyo. In the Osaka area, Mainichi Shimbun applied to establish a station under the name New Japan Broadcasting (later renamed Mainichi Broadcasting), and in Fukuoka Prefecture, under the name Radio Kyushu.^[3]: 12 A license for JOFR was issued on 21 April 1951, and the company was formally established on 29 June. Radio Kyushu began operations on 1 December of the same year.

Radio Kyushu was one of the first 72 companies in Japan to apply for a license to establish a private radio station.^[3]: 10 In addition to Mainichi Shimbun, Radio Kyushu received investment from local companies such as Nippon Steel and Kyushu Electric Power.^[3]: 16 The headquarters was also located in Kyushu Electric Power's building.^[3]: 21 On 12 April 1951, Radio Kyushu received a preliminary license,^[3]: 10 and on 7 October of the same year, it began trial broadcasting.^[3]: 39 On 1 December, Radio Kyushu officially launched, becoming the first private radio station in Kyushu and the fourth private radio station in Japan.^[3]: 29 In its first month of broadcasting, Radio Kyushu achieved a profit of 500,000 yen.^[3]: 44 The station’s first-generation trademark was selected through an open competition in 1952. The designer was Hatano Yoshiko, a middle school student in Oita Prefecture.^[3]: 45 In December 1952, Radio Kyushu established the Ogura broadcasting station, which became Japan's first privately owned radio relay station.^{[3]: 98–99} In July 1953, Radio Kyushu established a labor union.^[3]: 41

RKB began television broadcasts on 1 March 1958. At the same time, the station merged with Mainichi Seibu Television (tentative call sign JOGX-TV, later reassigned in 2013 after CBC TV spun off). As a result, the planned JOGX station was launched as the Kitakyushu satellite station (JOFO-TV).

RKB began broadcasting a digital signal on 1 July 2006. The station ended its analog programming at noon on 24 July 2011, the date by which all television stations in Japan were required to discontinue analog broadcasts per federal mandate. Right before shutting off their analog broadcasts at 23:59, RKB aired a video montage showcasing its analog history, with Taro Hakase's "The Cozy Bench" as the background music.^[4]

Station

Radio

• Fukuoka: 1278 kHz JOFR 50 kW; 91.0 MHz FM
• Kitakyushu: 1197 kHz JOFO 1 kW; 91.5 MHz FM
• Omuta: 1062 kHz JOFE 100W; 94.8 MHz FM
• Yukuhashi: 1062 kHz 100W; 94.6 MHz FM

TV (Analog)

• Fukuoka: Channel 4 JOFR-TV
• Kitakyushu :Channel 8 JOFO-TV
• Kurume: Channel 48 JOFC-TV
• Omuta: Channel 61
• Yukuhashi: Channel 60

TV (Digital)

• Button 4
• Fukuoka: Channel 30 JOFR-DTV

Program

Anime

• Bocchi the Rock!
• The Idolmaster

TV

• Kyokan TV(13:55 - 15:50 every Monday To Friday)
• Kyokan News
• Watch@24
• Rkb+ Sunday Watch
• Tadaima!
• TEEN!TEEN!
• Mame Gohan。
• P Paradise (about Pachinko).

Other TV stations in Fukuoka

• NHK Fukuoka and Kitakyushu
• Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting (KBC, 九州朝日放送, affiliated with TV Asahi and ANN) - 1
• Fukuoka Broadcasting Corporation (FBS, 福岡放送, affiliated with NTV and NNN / NNS) - 5
• TVQ Kyushu Broadcasting (TVQ, TVQ九州放送, affiliated with TV Tokyo and TX Network) - 7
• Television Nishinippon Corporation (TNC, テレビ西日本, affiliated with CX and FNN / FNS) - 8