Japanese media companies to debut new TV channel in Singapore

To be launched by Singapore-based J Food & Culture TV (JFCTV), the investors of the new TV channel are Dentsu, Nippon Television Network Corporation, TV Asahi Corporation, Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings, TV Tokyo Holdings Corporation, Singapore Media Alliance, Imagica Robot Holdings, Hokkaido Television Broadcasting and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions.

It will be available via StarHub CATV’s complimentary channels (Channel 149).

Hello! Japan will be distributed to 10 other countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific region, namely Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, Vietnam, India, Korea and Taiwan, after the debut in Singapore.

Emerging markets in the ASEAN region, Dentsu said in a statement, are showing remarkable economic growth, and countries outside the region that are aiming to enter this marketplace are focusing on ways to increase their presence in the region in order to boost the brand image of their corporations as well as the number of travelers coming into their countries.

“The export of broadcast content is regarded as a strategic move to promote awareness and understanding of a culture, which can increase the degree of positive feelings toward that country. In the midst of intensifying competition, Japan must continue to provide high-quality, versatile content to the global marketplace,” it added.

The JFCTV investors launched this project to both increase the market for Japanese content and enhance the presence of Japan in other countries. This is the first time that several media content companies in Japan have collaborated to integrate and edit content for distribution overseas.

Currently, the Japanese content broadcasted around the world is either content purchased individually by overseas broadcasting stations or the NHK World TV (English) and NHK World Premium (Japanese) programs.

The establishment of a comprehensive entertainment TV channel by a Japanese company to deliver variety and music programs to audiences overseas is also expected to provide logistical support for Japanese companies as they accelerate their globalisation.

Television commercials and events that are linked to program content, for example, can be used to increase the synergistic effects of advertising communications.