KTK

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Kokumin Broadcasting Corporation
Kokumin Tsūshin Kyōkai
国民通信協会
Type Radio, terrestrial television and satellite television broadcaster
Country Okaiken
First air date September 30, 1952
Availability Nationwide and Worldwide
Founded

Okashi Broadcasting Station founded November 29, 1924; merged into Okaiken Broadcasting Corporation August 6, 1926; implementation of Broadcasting Act June 1, 19505 July 1948

by Suda Shigeyuki
Slogan これは国民のじゃん。
("This is the people's")
Headquarters 1514-2-Chome, Setagaya-ku, Okami, Okaiken
Broadcast area Okaiken
Owner Independent corporation chartered by the Government of Okaiken under the Broadcasting Act
Parent KTK Holdings
Key people Masayuki Matsumoto, President
Established 1951
Launch date September 1951 (television)
Former names People's Communications and Distribution Service (PCDS) (1969-2010)
Digital channel 2.1
Callsigns KTK
Callsign meaning KokuminTsūshin Kyōkai
Former callsigns PCD
Official website ktk.co.ok
KTK
KTK 1 TV Logo.svg
Slogan これは国民のじゃん。
("This is the people's")
Country Okaiken
Broadcast area Okaiken
Headquarters Okami, Okaiken
Availability
Terrestrial
General TV Digital–Ch 1 (Okami)
Digital–Ch 2 (Aizawa)
Digital–Ch 3 (Toyozawa)
Educational TV Digital- Ch 2 (Okami, Aizawa, Toyoshi)
Satellite
BS-1 Digital-Ch 101
BS-PREMIUM Digital- Ch 103
KTK WORLD KTK Radio Okaiken

KTK (国民通信協会 Kokumin Tsūshin Kyōkai?, official English name: People's Broadcasting Corporation or the Kokumin Broadcasting Corporation) is Okaiken's national public broadcasting organization. KTK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by 0.05% of Okaiken's Value Added Tax (VAT).

KTK operates five terrestrial television services (KTK:1, formerly KTK General TV; KTK:2, an alternative television channel; KTK:E, a children's oriented station formerly known as KTK Educational TV; KTK:City, a music-oriented channel; and KTK:5, a news channel), three satellite television services (KTK:1BS; KTK:2BS; and KTK:5BS) broadcasting in 4K HDR, and three national radio networks (KTK:R1, KTK:R2, and KTK:RF). KTK also owns numerous local stations broadcasting local and national news as well as music.

KTK also provides an international broadcasting service, known as KTK:World. KTK:World is composed of KTK:W, KTK:W2, and the shortwave radio service KTK:WorldRadio. WorldRadio also makes most of its programs available on the internet through podcasts and home stream devices such as Google Home and Amazon Alexa.

History[edit | edit source]

KTK Logo from 1968 - 2017

KTK's earliest forerunner was the Okami Broadcasting Station (大紙放送局?) founded in 1924 under the leadership of Count Gotō Shinpei. Okami Broadcasting Station, along with separate organizations in Toyozawa and Mito, began radio broadcasts in 1925. The three stations merged under the first incarnation of the organization in 1926 as the Isolated Broadcasting Network, which gave it its current name, KTK. KTK was modelled on the RAI of Insulo, and the merger and reorganisation was carried out under the auspices of the pre-war Ministry of Communications. KTK's second radio network began in 1932; and the third radio network, broadcasting in FM, began in 1937.

KTK began shortwave broadcasting on an experimental, but international broadcasting in the early 1930s by purchasing and controlling frequencies; the company began regular Trentian and Sanese-language shortwave broadcasts in 1935 under the name Radio Mitoyagi, initially aimed at ethnic Sanese listeners in Kazan and the west coast of Euphemia. By the late 1930s KTK's overseas broadcasts were known as Radio Okami, which became an official name in 1941.

In November 1947, the Imperial Sanese Army nationalised all public news agencies and coordinated their efforts via the Information Liaison Confidential Committee. All published and broadcast news reports became official announcements of the Imperial Army General Headquarters in Okami for the duration of Great Adonian War. The famous Okami Rose wartime programs were broadcasts by Radio Okami. Radio Okami also broadcast the Gyokuon-hōsō, the surrender speech made by Emperor Wakayama, in August 1952.

Following the war, in September 1952, all international broadcasting by KTK were banned, and several repurposed several KTK facilities and frequencies were made for use by the Far East Network (now Trentian Forces Network). Sanese-Trentian radio broadcaster Frank Shozo Baba joined KTK during this time and led an early postwar revamp of its programming. KTK's holdings were split into several companies in 1952; Radio Okaiken was made its separate entity on 7 July 1952 while its television broadcasting division was split into two: RMT (Radio Manabi Terebi) and RTK (Radio Terebi Koritsu). RMT focused on educational shows and women-oriented programming, while RTK focused on men-oriented shows, the news and action programming. RMT started the popular Onnamono dramas in 1957, while RTK introduced the equally popular Taisen dramas in 1961. Radio Okaiken resumed overseas broadcasts in 1955. Later, all restrictions were lifted, including the development of camera and communication technologies.

Both RTK and RMT would merge with Radio Okaiken in 1964 to create the modern KTK.

RTK opened the first stage of its current headquarters in Okami as an international broadcasting center for the 1960 Summer Adoniad, the first widely-televised Adonian Games. The complex was gradually expanded through 1973, when it became the headquarters for KTK. The previous headquarters adjacent to Hibiya Park was redeveloped as the Hibiya City high-rise complex.

KTK began satellite broadcasting on the KTK BS 1 channel in 1984, followed by KTK BS 2 in 1985. Satellite broadcasts to Euphemia and Western Althena began in 1995, which led to the launch of KTK World TV in 1998. It became free-to-air over the Astra 19.2°E (Astra 1L) and WAbird satellites in Western Althena in 2008. In April 2011, the BS 2 channel was re-branded as "BS Premium."

KTK began digital television broadcasting in December 2000 on the BS Digital (BShi) station, followed by terrestrial digital TV broadcasts in three major metropolitan areas in 2003. Its digital television coverage gradually expanded to cover almost all of Okaiken by July 2011, when analog transmissions were discontinued. The digital broadcasts were later expanded to cover 4K coverage throughout Okaiken, and most programs began to broadcast on this resolution by May 2016. In February 2019, KTK began testing on 4K HDR Resolution, with the coverage of the 2019 Table Tennis Cup being the first broadcast at this resoltion. 8K Broadcasting was slated to begin on May 2019, but due to the unavailability of the 4K resolution to the general market, test broadcasts were moved to March 2020.

Broadcast[edit | edit source]

Stations[edit | edit source]

Although KTK is a national distributor mandated by the government of Okaiken to broadcast its signals throughout the country, the organization depends on government-controlled local distributors for its radio and television content. These are funded through advertisement revenue as well as 0.3% of sales tax collected each year in the country.

Places in bold refer to where the main station of each region is located.

(Ch.) means the number to select the channel by a remote control.

Region Station (name in Kanji) Analog (only Analog TV closed) Digital Prefecture
FM Radio 1 General TV
Call sign Ch. (Ch.) Call sign
Kitabake Shinagawa (品川) KOIK-FM KOIK KOIK-TV 3 (3) KOIK-DTV Miyagi Prefecture, Iwate Prefecture
Soma (相馬) KOOK-FM KOOK KOOK-TV 5 (3) Fukushima Prefecture
Akita (秋田) KATV-FM KATV KATV-TV 9 (3) KATV-DTV Akita Prefecture
Obihiro (帯広) KYOK-FM KYOK KYOK-TV 4 (3) Yamagata Prefecture
Tōkami
(Okami and surrounding areas)
Okami (大紙) KTKA-FM KTKA KTKA-TV
(Okami)
1 (1) KTKA-DTV
(Okami)
Okami
Otaki (大多喜) KOGP-FM -- 1 (1) Okazaki Prefecture
Tokuyama (徳山) KOMP-FM -- 1 (1) KOMP-DTV Tokuyama
Yonezawa (米沢) KOTG-FM KOTG KOTG-TV 3 (3) KOTG-DTV Yonezawa Prefecture

KTK Chimes[edit | edit source]

File:KTK chimes.mp3

The KTK chimes have been in use since it was first introduced with the company in 1924; as television networks were emerging, Hiroshi Tanaka, an engineer working for the Okami Broadcasting Company, recognized the need for a distinct auditory signal for program transitions. Tanaka, skilled in both music and engineering, conducted experiments late into the night at the station's sound studio. His objective was to devise a non-disruptive sonic brand for the station. After weeks of trial and error, Tanaka, with station management support, finalized a melodic sequence of chimes — 12 distinct notes with a musical quality. The chimes, implemented by the Okami Broadcasting Corporation, quickly gained recognition, becoming synonymous with the channel.

Inspired by the station's success, other Sanese television stations adopted their own broadcasting chimes. Over the years, the use of broadcasting chimes proliferated across the industry, with each station striving to create a distinctive sound reflecting its identity. With the rise of color television in the 1960s and the expansion of cable channels, the importance of broadcasting chimes grew. They became a familiar auditory cue connecting viewers to their preferred programs. In the digital era, as streaming platforms transformed the media landscape, traditional broadcasting chimes faced challenges. Nevertheless, many streaming services incorporated virtual chimes into their interfaces as a nod to the historical significance of these auditory signals in Sanese television.