, also known as KAB, is a Japanese

broadcast network A terrestrial network (or broadcast network in the United States) is a group of radio stations, television stations, or other electronic media outlets, that form an agreement to air, or broadcast, content from a centralized source. For example, ...

affiliated with the

ANN Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie and Ana. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in ...

. Their headquarters are located in

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

History

Pre-launch

In the 1980s, following the Ministry of Post's (currently

Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications The is a Cabinet (government), cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. Its English name was Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) prior to 2004. It is housed in the 2nd Building of the Centr ...

) policy of making four well-known private TV stations accessible nationwide, Kumamoto Prefecture was allocated the fourth private TV broadcaster in 1984, and attracted 482 applicants (215 of which belonged to the

Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...

Group) to apply. In 1986, the Ministry of Posts commissioned the Kumamoto Prefectural Government to consolidate the applications. After nearly 2 years of the consolidated applications, the other companies agreed to integrate into one for application. On October 5, 1988, before the opening of the station, the name of the station was decided as Kumamoto Asahi Broadcasting. A month later, they have obtained a preliminary license and a day before its opening, a general meeting was held. In July 1989, KAB moved into the Technology Plaza Building in Hanabata-cho, Kumamoto City, and started testing TV broadcasts on August 15. On September 22, KAB was granted an official license and started another trial broadcasts.

Launch and further developments

On October 1, 1989, KAB started broadcasting, becoming the fourth station in the Prefecture (TV Asahi/

programming aired from RKK & TKU also moved into the new station). On its second year, it started broadcasting the Kumamoto Prefecture qualifiers of the Japan High School Baseball Championship. In 1991, when Kumamoto Prefecture was hit by

Typhoon Mireille Typhoon Mireille, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Rosing, was the costliest typhoon on record, until it was surpassed by Typhoon Doksuri in 2023. Striking Japan in September 1991, it became the 20th named storm of the 1991 Pacific typho ...

, some of its relay stations were damaged forcing to go off air. KAB's Kumamoto main station commenced their

digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV, DTT, or DTTB) is a technology for terrestrial television, in which television stations broadcast television content in a digital signal, digital format. Digital terrestrial television is a major technologica ...

broadcasting service on December 1, 2006.

Stations

Analog Stations

Kumamoto is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a populat ...

(Main Station) JOZI-TV 16ch *

Hitoyoshi 290px, Hitoyoshi City Hall 290px, Panorama of Hitoyoshi and Kuma River from Hitoyoshi Castle 290px, Hitoyoshi Castle ruins is a city in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 29,842 in 15292 households, and a pop ...

36ch *

Minamata is a city located in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. It is on the west coast of Kyūshū and faces Amakusa islands. Minamata was established as a village in 1889, re-designated as a town in 1912 and grew into a city in 1949. As of March 2017, the ci ...

32ch * Ushibuka 20ch * Oguni 23ch * Aso 50ch * Matsubase 52ch * Misumi 17ch *

Amakusa , which means "Heaven's Grass," is a series of islands off the west coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. Geography The largest island of the Amakusa group is Shimoshima, which is 26.5 miles long and 13.5 mil ...

31ch

Digital Stations(ID:5)

(Main Station) JOZI-DTV 49ch

Programs

Rival Stations

RKK Kumamoto Broadcasting is a regional radio and television broadcaster headquartered in Kumamoto, Kumamoto, Japan that serves Kumamoto Prefecture. RKK was founded in 1953, commenced radio broadcast in October 1953, and television in April 1959. RKK is affiliated wi ...

- JNN affiliated, ID:3 *

Kumamoto Kenmin Televisions Kumamoto Kenmin Televisions Co., Ltd. () is a Japanese television station, founded in 1982 and headquartered in Kumamoto, Japan. It is affiliated with the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System Nippon Television Network ...

- NNN affiliated, ID:4 * TV Kumamoto - FNN affiliated, ID:8

References

External links

Kumamoto Asahi Broadcasting
All-Nippon News Network Asahi Shimbun Company Television stations in Japan Television channels and stations established in 1989 Mass media in Kumamoto {{Japan-tv-station-stub