# Sendai Television

Sendai Television Inc. (株式会社仙台放送, OX), callsign JOOX-DTV (channel 8) is a Japanese television station based in Sendai that serves as the affiliate of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and Fuji Network System (FNS) for the Miyagi Prefecture. It was established on October 1, 1962.

## Capital composition

Information as of March 31, 2021:$^{:256}$：
| Capital | Value per share | Total number of shares issued | Number of shareholders |
| 200,000,000 yen | 500 yen | 400,000 stocks | 7 |
| Shareholders | Number of shares held | Proportion |
| Fuji Media Holdings | 289,400 shares | 72.35% |

## History

In April 1962, 136,178 households in Miyagi Prefecture had TV sets, with a penetration rate of 39.6%.$^{:22}$ Against this background, Miyagi Prefecture residents are increasingly calling for the establishment of a second commercial TV station in the prefecture. On June 30, 1961, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications revised the first television channel plan, allowing the establishment of additional television stations in key local cities such as Sendai and Hiroshima. Sendai was therefore assigned channel 12.$^{:22}$ At this time, two operators, "Sendai TV" owned by Nippon Television and "Tohoku TV" owned by Fuji TV, had applied to obtain the broadcasting license of Miyagi Prefecture's second commercial TV station.$^{:23}$
In order to integrate resources, the Postal Ministry and local governments will be responsible for integrating competing players, which is the same as other regions in Japan. On July 12, 1961, Sendai TV and Tohoku TV formally agreed to merge their applications, and Tohoku TV was formed with 49% investment from Tohoku TV, 46% investment from Sendai TV, and 5% investment from the Miyagi Prefectural Government.$^{:23}$ On August 4, 1961, Tohoku TV was granted a preliminary license;$^{:23}$ on August 28 of the same year, Tohoku TV was renamed Sendai Broadcasting, and a founding general meeting was held on September 21, with the tentative headquarters being Shin-Sendai Building.$^{:23}$ Sendai Broadcasting purchased land on Danianji Mountain on November 1, 1961 to build a signal transmitting station.$^{:24}$ The signal transmission tower was completed in August of the following year, with a height of 147.3 meters.$^{:24}$ Before the launch of Sendai Broadcasting, it was decided that the new logo would be based on the channel number "12" and was designed by Yusaku Kamekura.$^{:27}$
On September 13, 1962, Sendai Broadcasting launched a test signal and began trial broadcasting on the 24th of the same month.$^{:26}$ At 10:50 in the morning on October 1 of the same year, Sendai Broadcasting officially launched, becoming the second commercial TV station in Miyagi Prefecture.$^{:28}$ In the month of its launch, Sendai Broadcasting achieved sales of more than 60 million yen.$^{:36}$
In the early days of broadcasting, Sendai Broadcasting was a cross-network station of the Nippon Television and the Fuji Television networks. In terms of time proportion, 63% of Sendai Broadcasting's initial broadcast time were Fuji TV programs, 23% were Nippon TV programs, and only 14% of the time aired programs produced by other TV stations; the total weekly broadcast time reached 3,700 minutes.$^{:30}$ In 1963, Sendai Broadcasting expanded its headquarters to cope with the rising demand for program production.$^{:31}$ The following year, the Sendai Broadcasting Company's housing was completed, which greatly improved the residential environment for employees.$^{:31}$
In 1965, Sendai Broadcasting signed a news gathering agreement with the Sankei Shimbun and the Yomiuri Shimbun,$^{:36}$ and opened an Ishinomaki branch the following year, significantly strengthening the news gathering system.$^{:36}$
In October 1966, Sendai Broadcasting achieved monthly sales of more than 100 million yen.$^{:38}$
On October 18, 1968, Sendai Broadcasting signed a sister station agreement with WGN-TV, an independent station in Chicago, and became its first overseas sister station.$^{:39}$
On December 24, 1965, Sendai Broadcasting Corporation began broadcasting color television programs.$^{:40}$ With the launch of Miyagi Television, the third commercial television station in Miyagi Prefecture, on October 1, 1970, Sendai Broadcasting became a full member of the Fuji Television network and no longer broadcast programs from Nippon Television.$^{:44}$
In order to expand revenue from businesses other than television, Sendai Broadcasting entered the residential exhibition field in 1972, the 10th anniversary of its launch.$^{:54}$ In the same year, the Tohoku Classic, a famous golf event in the Tohoku region, was also held.$^{:54}$
From October 1975 to March 1976, Sendai Broadcasting won the prime-time ratings championship among all channels in Miyagi Prefecture for six consecutive months, and won the triple crown in ratings in January.$^{:57}$ In November 1977, Sendai Broadcasting set a record of ratings of 10.9% for the whole day, 22.3% for prime time, and 20.4% for evening time.$^{:57}$
On October 15, 1977, the new headquarters of Sendai Broadcasting was completed.$^{:60–61}$ In the same year, Sendai Broadcasting introduced the electronic news gathering (ENG) system, which greatly improved the efficiency of news editing.$^{:66}$ During the Miyagi earthquake in 1978, Sendai Broadcasting was also severely affected. The transmission tower was bent due to the earthquake and had to be repaired;$^{:68}$ however, Sendai Broadcasting's report on the earthquake won the FNN Monthly Excellence Award.$^{:68}$
Sendai Broadcasting moved to its current headquarters in 2004. From 2005 to 2009, Sendai Broadcasting won the triple crown in ratings for five consecutive years.
Sendai Broadcasting began broadcasting digital television on December 1, 2005. Affected by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake, Sendai Broadcasting stopped broadcasting analog television on March 31, 2012, more than half a year behind other parts of Japan except the affected prefectures (Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima). Starting in December 2016, Sendai Broadcasting became a group subsidiary of Fuji Media Holdings.

## TV channel

* Sendai
    Analog: JOOX-TV, Channel 12, VIDEO:10 kW AUDIO:2.5 kW (Wave stopped on March 31, 2012)
    Digital: JOOX-DTV, Channel 21, 3 kW