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NHK conducted experimental broadcasts in 1939-1940 (interrupted due to its entry in the war); the callsign of the station in Tokyo was J2PQ, video frequency 4.5 MHz, output 500W.
In 1950, following the end of occupation, an experimental VHF service started in Tokyo on channel 3 (similar experiments were also carried out in Nagoya and Osaka) one hour a day, three days a week.
The first regular broadcast was carried out on February 1, 1953 from Tokyo, under the JOAK-TV callsign. In 1953 alone, the station had more remote broadcasts than an average television station in the United States at the time, from sports to theatrical performances. Using remote transmissions was more convenient at the time given the fact that its studio facilities were reduced. The station broadcast for six hours a day at the time.
The first stations outside Tokyo to sign-on were JOBK-TV in Osaka (March 1, 1954 at 8 A.M.) and JOCK-TV in Nagoya (the same day at 11am). At 2 P.M. that day, a special program was broadcast to introduce the new stations, with congratulatory messages from officials of the respective cities.
The network expanded to cover Sendai, Hiroshima and Fukuoka in 1956. That same year, in preparation for the start of CBC's television station in Nagoya, the Nagoya station moved from channel 5 to channel 3, as the old frequency was set to be used by CBC. From May 29 to December 23, 1957, further stations opened in Nagano, Shizuoka, Kanazawa, Okayama, Matsuyama and Kokura (Kitakyushu). The first morning broadcast was on October 7, 1957 and the first experimental color broadcast in Tokyo, on December 28.
On November 29, 1958, the Osaka station moved from channel 4 to channel 2 in anticipation for the start of MBS's television station, and on April 6, 1959, the Tokyo station moved from channel 3 to channel 1 to accommodate NHK Educational's main station in Tokyo, to achieve better coverage in the Kanto area.
On March 20, 1966, the National Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (now NTT) completed the standardization works for color TV microwave lines throughout Japan (excluding the area between Kagoshima and Naze). It is now possible to carry out color TV broadcasts via the network throughout the country, and with the exception of some remote island areas such as Amami Oshima, the development of colorization throughout the country has been completed.
JOSP-TV in Saga became NHK General's first UHF station when its regular broadcasts started on March 15, 1969. After that, UHF stations opened in Takamatsu, five prefectures in the Kansai region other than Osaka, Tsu, and Gifu, and prefectural broadcasting began. On December 21, experimental broadcasting of bilingual audio multiplex broadcasting begins in Tokyo and Osaka.
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On October 10, 1971, NHK General began full-scale colorization of the program. Due to this colorization, black-and-white broadcasting excluding reruns of past works has disappeared from Japanese TV programs. Coinciding with this move, the local news units made the switch. In May 1972, following the reversion agreement of the Ryukyu Islands from the United States to Japan, NHK General TV started broadcasting in Okinawa using the infrastructure of the former OHK.
Due to the influence of the first oil crisis, after January 16, 1974, the midnight broadcast was suspended. In 1975, the analog UHF experimental stations in Tokyo and Osaka were closed; the time saving measures due to the oil crisis were completely lifted for the first time in one year, two and a half months. It was only in April 1984, all weekday broadcasts end at 12am, completely ending the late-night broadcast suspension that had continued since the oil crisis.
Regarding analog sound multiplex broadcasting, it was first implemented from December 1982; Teletext broadcasting (subtitled broadcasting) started later in 1985.
On September 19, 1988, as Emperor Showa was in critical condition, all-night broadcasts began in the form of fillers, reporting on his condition from time to time. When the Emperor died on January 7, 1989, NHK suspended all programs except for educational broadcasts, including the serial asadora Jun-chan no ōenka and the Taiga drama Kasuga no Tsubone, but continued to broadcast special programs in memory of Emperor Showa and special programs for the enthronement of the new Emperor until the early hours of the January 9. The temporary all-night broadcast will end, but a regular program will be scheduled by 1am until March.
On January 17, 1995, when the Great Hanshin earthquake occurred, NHK began a special news program at 5:51pm on all broadcast channels, including Educational TV; all regular programming were suspended. From February onwards, the program returned to its normal format, but until the end of February (until the end of March in the Kansai region) the program focused on reporting on the earthquake disaster.
In April 1996, NHK General began broadcasting 24 hours a day on weekends (Fridays and Saturdays late at night); the weekday broadcast time was also expanded to 2am. The following year, the network expanded the 24 hour broadcast to weekdays, excluding early Monday mornings.
In April 2000, NHK General started simultaneous subtitle broadcasting of live broadcast programs using teletext. 24 hour a day broadcasting was also expanded to Sunday.
On December 1, 2003, NHK General started broadcasting terrestrial digital television at each broadcasting station in three metropolitan areas.
In March 2004, NTT Communications' relay lines completely transitioned from analog lines using microwaves to digital lines using optical fiber. In conjunction with this, the line operation system will be unified from Tokyo. On October 1, NHK General launched JOEP-DTV in Mito as its first digital television station since Tsu NHK General station, which was started its regular broadcast during analog days 31 years prior. Prior to that, NHK Mito relays its television station from Tokyo.
From Wikipedia’s article on Japan International Broadcasting Inc., shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4