At 11:00 AM this morning, above ground digital television broadcasts began in three of Japan's major metropolitan areas. Prime Minister Koizumi was o­n hand to do the countdown.

The main broadcasts began this morning in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka. To commemorate this, the "Above Ground Digital Television Commencement Memorial Ceremony" was held at Akasaka's Prince Hotel.

However, since the areas actually receiving these digital signals are severly limited in quantity, the hotel which held the ceremony had to receive the digital signals via fiber optic cabling.

Plans for the spread of the technology include 10,000,000 households (12,000,000 units) by the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and 48,000,000 households (100,000,000 units) by 2011. Analog television broadcasts are to come to an end o­n July 24th, 2011.

Standing at the forefront of above-ground digital television broadcasts is the director of the National Council for the Advancement of Above-Ground Digital Television, Asou Tarou. He hopes that "digital television broadcasts contain the hidden ability to transform 'watching TV' to 'using TV.'"

Mr. Asou also explained that his administration was enthusiastic about "having people take a look back at this decision and think, 'wow, that was a good decision,' since television is the media closest to our citizens."

Next was the explanation of the "4 Plans of Action for pushing Digital Broadcasts" from the Chairman of the National Council for the Advancement of Above-Ground Digital Television, Narita Hiroshi. In addition to the above listed plans, other plans of action were stated: creation and distribution of an area map about the three large regions, creation of a community slogan and logo, development and supply of simple to operate televisions and remotes, etc.

This article continues... but not today. If you are really interested in what the rest of the article says, let me know.

Original URL:
http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20031201/gdb.htm