TOP > Corporate Profile > History
| 1984 | December | Established as the first private satellite broadcast company, Japan Satellite Broadcasting, Inc. (presently WOWOW INC.) |
| 1989 | November | Chose “WOWOW” as channel name. |
| 1990 | November | Established a Subscriber Service Center in Chuo-ku, Tokyo. |
| November | Established a broadcast center in Koto-ku, Tokyo. | |
| November | Commenced test analog broadcasting (free-of-charge, 12-hour service). | |
| 1991 | April | Commenced Pay TV broadcasting service (fee based, 24-hour service). |
| November | Commenced test broadcasting of analog HD broadcasting, Commissioned to outsource transmission for the 5 main TV broadcasters in Tokyo. |
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| 1992 | August | Registered subscribers exceeded 1 million. (in the shortest period of time for any pay-TV station worldwide) |
| 1996 | January | Registered subscribers exceeded 2 million. |
| 1997 | March | Reduced capital by 90%. |
| 1998 | October | Established a customer center in Yokohama. |
| December | Registered subscribers exceeded 2.5 million. | |
| 2000 | December | Changed company name to WOWOW INC. |
| December | Commenced BS digital broadcasting. | |
| 2001 | April | IPO listed on Mothers of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. |
| 2003 | February | Started broadcasting of the “DramaW” label “Sensei no kaban” was the launching title. |
| August | Opened a customer center in Okinawa. | |
| December | Drama-W series Sensei no Kaban(The teacher’s bag) won the Prize for an Excellent Work of The Art Festival TV category. | |
| 2004 | June | Allocation of new shares to a third party. |
| 2005 | June | Distributed first dividend since establishment. |
| November | Established WHD Entertainment, Inc. with HoriPro Inc., and DISK GARAGE co.,LTD. | |
| December | Drama-W series Sokoku won the Prize for an Excellent Work of The Art Festival TV category. | |
| 2006 | May | Opened a customer center in Sapporo. |
| October | Content supplied to VOD distributors as WOWOW Premium On Demand. | |
| December | Commenced broadcasting via SKY PerfectTV! Channel 330 (124/128 service). | |
| December | Participated in field trials of the Next Generation Network (NGN). | |
| December | Drama-W series Taigan no Kanojo won the Prize for an Excellent Work of The Art Festival TV category. | |
| 2007 | March | Established WOWOW Scenario Award. |
| April | Established WOWOW FILMS. | |
| June | Net accumulated number of digital subscribers exceeds that of analog subscribers. | |
| October | Premiered WOWOW FILM’s first title “The Investigation Game” in theaters. | |
| 2008 | April | Commenced operation of an emergency earthquake alert system. |
| April | Broadcast our first original drama series “Pandora”. | |
| May | Ended registration for BS analogue broadcasting (excluding existing decoder holder and CATV viewer). | |
| October | “Pandora”, TV drama series, won the grand prix at the Tokyo Drama Awards. | |
| 2009 | June | Awarded a BS license by the Radio Regulatory Council of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications(MIC). WOWOW to offer full-time, full hi-vision 3-channel broadcasting services from 2011. |
| September | Drama-W series “The Flying Tire” won the Prize for Best TV Drama in the TV Program Category of the NAB(National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan) Awards. | |
| October | Held “WOW FES!”. | |
| 2010 | February | WOWOW FILMS “Parade” receives the International Critics Association Award at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival, Panorama Category. |
| June | Commenced broadcasting via SKY PerfecTV!HD (621-623 ch). | |
| October | Commenced broadcasting via IPTV services. | |
| December | Drama-W special “Naze Kimiwa Zetsubo to Tatakaetanoka?” (part2) won the grand prize in the TV drama category of the 65th Japan Media Arts Festival organized by the Agency for Cultural Affairs. | |
| 2011 | March | Stock listing moves from Mothers to the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. |
| July | Terminated BS analog broadcasting. | |
| October | Launched Three Full-HD broadcasting channels. |
