NBC Radio Saga

NBC Radio Saga (JOUO)
Broadcast areaSaga Prefecture
Frequencies1458 kHz (AM); 93.5 MHz (FM)
Programming
LanguageJapanese
FormatTalk, Sports
AffiliationsJRN, NRN
Ownership
OwnerNagasaki Broadcasting Co., Ltd.
History
First air date
August 1, 1958 (1958-08-01)
Technical information
Licensing authority
MIC
Power5 kW
Links
Websitewww.nbc-nagasaki.co.jp/radio/

NBC Radio Saga (NBCラジオ佐賀, NBC Rajio Saga) is a radio station in Saga Prefecture, Japan. The station is a subsidiary of Nagasaki Broadcasting and is a JRN-NRN affiliate.

NBC Radio Saga has its own office & studios when their Honjo Headquarters were established in 1958. In 2020, due to the aging of the previous studios, the station moved its equipment to its current location is at the Combox Saga Ekimae mall.

History

NBC Radio Saga is unique among Japanese radio stations, where the prefectural AM radio station was set up by a station in another prefecture. NBC had previously entered into a conflict with Radio Sasebo, which tried obtaining a radio license in Sasebo, in the north of the prefecture, starting its broadcasts on April 1, 1954; ultimately the station merged with NBC and became a mere relay station on October 1, 1954.[1]: 173–174  A few years later, in 1958, NBC obtained a radio license in the prefecture, and on August 1, 1958, NBC Radio Saga (callsign JOUO) started broadcasting. This enabled NBC to broadcast to two prefectures, even though each prefecture had its own station.[1]: 198  Until the opening of FM Saga in 1992, it was the prefecture's only commercial radio station.

In line with the push given by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to install FM relay stations (Wide FM) of the existing AM services, it installed an FM station in Yawata-dake, Karatsu city.[2][3] This was followed by a second one in Tosu in July 2020.[4]

The station announced on July 22, 2019 that it would move to a new building (Combox Saga Ekimae) due to old age of the existing one. The tentative relocation target was May 2020.[5] Regular broadcasting from the new facilities began on June 15, 2020.[6][7]

NBC always treated Radio Saga as a mere relay with limited local programming catering the prefecture, however, the station had no online stream, not even on Radiko. This was solved on October 1, 2021, when the station was added to the platform, which was described as "a new challenge for NBC Radio" and declaring itself as being "a radio station that caters to western Kyushu".[8] On August 31, 2022, the station's website shut down and merged its contents with its parent station in Nagasaki.

In February 2024, in line with the transition from AM to FM in Japan, NBC Radio started implementing AM broadcasting suspensions, starting with NBC Radio Saga and its relays in other parts of the prefecture. NBC already advised and advertised on their website that listeners can still listen to NBC Radio Saga on its Wide FM frequencies.[9]


References

  1. ^ a b 長崎放送 (2013). 『長崎放送60年史』 (in Japanese). Nagasaki Prefecture: Nagasaki Broadcasting.
  2. ^ 総務省九州総合通信局「報道資料」
  3. ^ NBCラジオ佐賀「ワイドFMのご案内」
  4. ^ "佐賀県鳥栖地区で長崎放送のFM補完放送が聴取可能に -AM放送の難聴解消のためのFM補完中継局に免許-" (Press release). 総務省九州総合通信局. 2020-07-17. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  5. ^ "NBCラジオ佐賀が移転 2020年5月、西友佐賀店跡施設に". 佐賀新聞LiVE. 2019-07-22. Archived from the original on 2021-02-26. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  6. ^ "NBCラジオ佐賀移転のお知らせ". NBCラジオ佐賀. 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-21.
  7. ^ "NBCラジオ佐賀がコムボックス佐賀駅前に移転 佐賀・長崎向けにも生放送". 佐賀経済新聞. 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  8. ^ 【動画】「radiko」佐賀エリア提供開始 ネットで聴けるラジオ、10月1日から NBCラジオ, Saga Shimbun, September 29, 2021
  9. ^ 【NBCラジオ】佐賀県のみなさまへ - NBC長崎放送