Mainichi Broadcasting System

• 1. The March 1959 Launch

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  At exactly ten o'clock on the morning of the 1st of March 1959, a signal began traveling from Mount Ikoma to homes across the Kansai region. This moment marked the official start of Mainichi Broadcasting System television operations after a year-long delay caused by network disputes with Radio Tokyo TV. The station had changed its name from New Japan Broadcasting just seven months earlier on the 1st of June 1958. Eighty-eight employees from Osaka Television Broadcasting joined the new entity during this transition period. The company established a temporary studio on the eighth and ninth floors of the south building at Mainichi Osaka Kaikan while construction continued there. A transmitting station sat atop Mount Ikoma to broadcast signals to viewers in Osaka and surrounding areas. The original launch date was supposed to be the 1st of December 1958, but external pressures forced a postponement until spring. Most early entertainment programs came directly from NET stations while self-produced content focused heavily on educational material. The station operated under a quasi-educational license that limited its programming choices for several years.

• 2. Network Switch And Ratings Rise

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  Mainichi Broadcasting withdrew from its long-standing relationship with Osaka Television in 1958 when Asahi Broadcasting inherited the TBS network connection instead. By summer 1974, Tokyo Channel 6 controlled by the Asahi Shimbun held the local TBS affiliate position. The newspaper exchange of shares between Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun triggered a major shift in regional broadcasting alliances. Mainichi Shimbun received TBS shares while Nikkei equity moved to Asahi Shimbun. On the 19th of November 1974, both TBS and Mainichi Broadcasting announced their new partnership would begin the 1st of April 1975. This switch reduced nationwide prime time broadcasts from five hours fifty minutes down to three hours fifty minutes daily. National program airtime outside peak hours dropped from six hours thirty-five minutes to four hours fifty-five minutes. The change also meant MBS stopped airing all Tokyo Channel 12 programs immediately. TBS was known as the hero of private broadcasting during this era and offered strong industry leadership. From October 1975 through March 1980, the station won what critics called the triple crown of ratings. In the first half of 1978 alone, MBS ranked number one for twenty-six consecutive weeks during prime time slots.

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• 3. Color And Electronic News

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  the 1st of April 2017 marked when both television and radio operations moved under the newly formed MBS Media Holdings structure. This restructuring created a second incarnation of Mainichi Broadcasting to manage all broadcast businesses together. Five years later on the 1st of April 2021, a separate subsidiary called MBS Radio took over the entire radio division license. The remaining entity focused exclusively on television broadcasting while changing its call sign to JOOY-DTV. Before these changes, the company had operated as a unified broadcaster since its inception in 1959 until 2017. Revenue figures from 1978 showed thirty point one five billion yen total income with profit reaching five point one two billion yen. By 1987 turnover climbed to fifty-three point five one eight billion yen while profits hit six point two three three billion yen. Economic conditions during Japan's bubble economy era pushed revenue to sixty-four point nine four nine billion yen by 1990. Profits that same year reached ninety-four million eight hundred eighty-nine thousand yen according to

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• 4. Corporate Restructuring Moves

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  internal records.

  The current headquarters building opened the 1st of September 1990 at the former Hankyu Department Store Distribution Center site in Chayamachi. Sales and accounting departments moved from Mainichi Osaka Kaikan while news operations relocated from Senrioka Broadcasting Center. A special program aired for two days on television and five days on radio to celebrate the station's fortieth anniversary alongside the new facility opening. Most of the first floor became an atrium space used for live broadcasts and public events. The MBS Goods Shop replaced earlier retail spaces called Mzono Shop then Nebula within this area. Tully's Coffee opened there as a branch of its original Starship restaurant location. Galaxy Hall served as a concert hall on the second floor before becoming Galaxy Studio for TV recordings. Universal Studios Japan received a dedicated studio called MBS Studio in USJ which opened the 31st of March 2001. Construction began April 2011 on a new fifteen-story B Building featuring base isolation technology. This structure stands approximately thirty-six meters tall reaching one

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• 5. Building And Infrastructure Growth

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  hundred seventeen meters including radio towers. The grand opening occurred the 4th of April 2014 at eleven o'clock seven minutes nine seconds representing channel four and frequency one thousand one hundred seventy-nine kilohertz.

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