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{{Short description|Japanese satellite TV company and station}}
{{for|the art collective in London|!Wowow!}}
{{distinguish|Wowowee|Wowowillie|Wowowin}}
{{expand Japanese|WOWOW|date=December 2018}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2009}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Wowow Inc.
| native_name = 株式会社WOWOW
| romanized_name = Kabushiki-gaisha Wauwau
| logo = WOWOW logo.svg
| logo_caption = Logo used since 2011
| image = Akasaka-Park-Building-01.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| image_caption = Headquarters in [[Minato, Tokyo]]
| former_names = Japan Satellite Broadcasting Co., Ltd. (1984-2000)
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| traded_as = {{TYO|4839}}
| hq_location = [[Akasaka, Tokyo|Akasaka]]
| hq_location_city = [[Minato, Tokyo]]
| hq_location_country = Japan
| subsid = {{ubl|Wowow Entertainment|Wowow Communcations|{{ill|Wowow Plus|ja|WOWOWプラス}}}}
| founded = {{Start date and age|1984|12|25}}
| industry = [[Media (communications)|Media]]
| website = {{url|corporate.wowow.co.jp/en}}
}}
{{Infobox television channel
| name = WOWOW Prime
| former_names = WOWOW (1991-2011)<br>Digital WOWOW1 (2010-2011)
| type = [[Premium television|Premium television channel]]
| country = Japan
| area = Japan
| picture_format = [[HDTV]] [[1080i]]
| language = [[Japanese language|Japanese]]
| owner = Wowow, Inc.
| launch_date = {{start date and age|1990|11|29}} (pre-launch)<br />{{start date|1991|4|1}} (official)<br />{{start date|2000|12|1}} (digital)
| closed_date = {{end date|2011|7|24}} (analog)
| website = {{URL|wowow.co.jp}} {{in lang|ja}}
}}
{{Nihongo|'''Wowow'''||Wauwau|{{IPA|ja|waɯwaɯ|pron}}, stylized in all-uppercase in Japanese}} is a [[satellite television|satellite broadcasting]] and premium satellite [[television station]] owned and operated by {{Nihongo|'''Wowow Inc.'''|株式会社WOWOW}}. Its headquarters are located on the 21st floor of the Akasaka Park Building in [[Akasaka, Tokyo|Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo]].<ref name="Addresses">"[https://corporate.wowow.co.jp/en/company/ Company Information]." Wowow. Retrieved on March 1, 2025. "The Head Office 21F, Akasaka Park Building, 5-2-20, Akasaka, Minato-ku Tokyo 107-6121 Tel. 81-3-4330-8111 Wowow Inc. Map." and "2-1-58, Tatsumi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-0053" [https://www.wowow.co.jp/co_info/corporate/profile/ Addresses in Japanese]: "東京都港区赤坂5-2-20 赤坂パークビル21F" and "東京都江東区辰巳2-1-58"</ref><ref>"[https://www.wowow.co.jp/info_e/map0.html Head office]." ([https://www.wowow.co.jp/info_e/images/map1.gif Direct image link]) Wowow. Retrieved on November 20, 2010. [https://www.wowow.co.jp/co_info/corporate/profile/map1.html Map in Japanese] ([https://www.wowow.co.jp/co_info/corporate/images/profile/map1.gif Direct link])</ref> Its broadcasting center is in [[Koto, Tokyo|Koto]], Tokyo.<ref name="Addresses"/><ref>"[https://www.wowow.co.jp/info_e/map2.html Broadcasting Center]." ([https://www.wowow.co.jp/info_e/images/map2.gif Direct image link]) Wowow. Retrieved on November 20, 2010. [https://www.wowow.co.jp/co_info/corporate/profile/map2.html Map in Japanese] ([https://www.wowow.co.jp/co_info/corporate/images/profile/map2.gif Direct link])</ref>

== Overview ==
Wowow was the first 24/7, 3 channel, full high-definition broadcaster in Japan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://corporate.wowow.co.jp/en/company/history/|title=History {{pipe}} Company Information {{pipe}} WOWOW Inc}}</ref>

The channel's name is a double "Wow", and the three W's also stand for "World-Wide-Watching".<ref>{{Cite web |title=WOWOWとはどういう意味？ |url=https://support.wowow.co.jp/answer/61a9917f9e474a001c1cce12/ |access-date=2025-06-18 |website=support.wowow.co.jp |language=ja}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Wowow head office.jpg|thumb|Former Wowow headquarters—Toraya Building 2]]
[[File:Wowow broadcasting center tatsumi koto.JPG|thumb|Former Wowow broadcasting center—Tatsumi Koto]]
Wowow ran a 24-hour test broadcast titled "A Japan-US Two-Way Call-in Show: Space TV Will Change the World" (日米双方向コール・イン・ショー 宇宙テレビが世界を変える) on November 29, 1990, then initiated 12 to 14 hours per day of pre-launch broadcasts the following day. Scrambled programs started airing in February 1991, and regular analog broadcasting began on April 1. One of the channel's first events was investing US$2 million in the filming of ''[[The Will Rogers Follies]]'' alongside Hollywood producer Pierre Cossette. The goal of the co-production was to bring in more subscribers to the channel, as well as finding a launch hit.<ref name="Will">{{cite news |last1=Epstein |first1=R. |title=Japan Lassos Broadway's `Will' for TV |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=April 27, 1991}}</ref>

By 1992, Wowow had 800,000 subscribers.<ref name="in">{{cite news |title=More specialist shows in store for Japan TV viewers |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19920422-1.2.12.21 |access-date=23 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=22 April 1992}}</ref> At the time, foreign feature films, mainly American, made up 40% of its schedule, and had US actor [[Harrison Ford]] as its spokesman.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schlesinger |first1=Jacob M. |last2=Ono |first2=Yumiko |title=Japan's Satellite Channels Buy American --- Need for Programming Gives U.S. Suppliers a Chance at Export Success |work=Asian Wall Street Journal |date=June 18, 1992}}</ref> One of its earliest hits was the cult US series ''[[Twin Peaks]]'', having aired several cycles of all 28 episodes by July 1992, and was responsible for nearly 30% of new subscriptions.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pollack |first1=Andrew |title='Twin Peaks' Revisited: Japanese Exhume Laura Palmer |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |agency=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 19, 1992}}</ref>

The network entered fiscal 1993 accumulating a debt of 40 million yen, accused on poor management, and causing delays to the launch of four private competitors.<ref>{{cite news |last1=do Rosario |first1=L. |title=Poor reception: Japan's Wowow TV struggles under weak management |work=[[Far Eastern Economic Review]] |volume=19 |issue=156 |page=71}}</ref>

Digital broadcasting began on December 1, 2000. The network began with 207,753 subscribers (31.5 billion [[yen]] in sales), growing to 2,667,414 two years later (64.5 billion yen in sales). As of December 2011, Wowow claimed approximately 2.56 million subscribers to its digital service.<ref>Wowow Inc. (2011). [https://www.wowow.co.jp/info_e/subscription/2011.html Business Summary: Subscription.] Accessed on January 31, 2012.</ref> On July 24, 2011, Wowow shut down its analog signals.

Previously, Wowow's headquarters were in another facility in Akasaka.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20080413164424/www.wowow.co.jp/info_e/index2.html Corporate Information]." Wowow. April 13, 2008. Retrieved on November 20, 2010. "1-5-8, Moto Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8080" [https://web.archive.org/web/20080215000147/www.wowow.co.jp/co_info/index2.html Japanese address]: "東京都港区元赤坂1-5-8"</ref>

On October 1, 2011, Wowow expanded their single channel broadcast satellite service to provide four high-definition TV channels:<ref>Wowow Inc. (2011). [https://corporate.wowow.co.jp/en/company/business/ Business {{pipe}} Company Information {{pipe}} WOWOW Inc.] Accessed on January 31, 2012.</ref> Wowow Prime (WOWOWプライム), a general entertainment channel, Wowow Live (WOWOWライブ), covering sports, documentaries, movies and live performances, Wowow Cinema (WOWOWシネマ), a 24-hour movie channel and Wowow Plus. This last channel, formerly known as Cinéfil Wowow, broadcasts on channel 250 and adopted its current name on December 1, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|title=2020年12月「シネフィルWOWOW」は「WOWOWプラス」に チャンネル名を変更します {{!}} ニュース {{!}} 株式会社WOWOW |url=https://corporate.wowow.co.jp/news/info/3313.html |website=WOWOW |access-date=2023-09-07 |language=ja}}</ref>

Wowow also operated a 4K channel which launched in March 2021 and closed on February 28, 2025.<ref>{{cite news |title=「WOWOW 4K」きょう放送終了 BS左旋は4月から「NHK BS8K」のみに |url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/ce40725db6e9f6226fd9d8346b107d825a7f1efc |work=Yahoo News Japan |agency=ITmedia news |date=February 28, 2025 |language=ja}}</ref>

== Programming ==
Wowow mostly rebroadcasts movies, but is also well known for showing (and even co-producing and/or assisting in the production of) original [[anime]] series such as ''[[The Big O]]'', ''[[Brain Powerd]]'', [[Overman King Gainer]], ''[[Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran]]'', ''[[Trinity Blood]]'', ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' (the complete uncut version), ''[[Ghost Hound]]'', ''[[Crest of the Stars]]'', ''[[Ergo Proxy]]'', ''[[X/1999]]'', ''[[SHUFFLE!]]'', ''[[Paranoia Agent]]'', ''[[Now and Then, Here and There]]'', ''[[Le Chevalier d'Eon]]'', ''[[Shigurui]],'' ''[[Berserk (2016 TV series)|Berserk]]'', as well as the ''[[Anime Complex]]'' block. Due to the looser broadcast standards for satellite television in Japan, Wowow has become a primary means of widespread distribution for anime with themes or subject matter that regular broadcast networks cannot show. Several anime studios have partnership deals for distributing their more mature series, with the famed studio [[Madhouse, Inc.|Madhouse]] among them.

Wowow also broadcasts [[Japanese language|Japanese]]-dubbed [[United States|American]] [[television series]] such as ''[[Friends]]'', ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]'', ''[[Sex and the City]]'', ''[[The Sopranos]]'', ''[[Cold Case (TV series)|Cold Case]]'', ''[[Grey's Anatomy]]'', ''[[Medium (TV series)|Medium]]'', ''[[The 4400]]'', ''[[Animaniacs]]'', ''[[South Park]]'', and ''[[The Simpsons]]'', among others. Wowow has also screened [[Ultimate Fighting Championship]] events for Japanese audiences, the British comedy sketch show ''[[Little Britain (TV series)|Little Britain]]'', as well as the British drama/action show ''[[Ultimate Force]]'' under the name ''SAS: British Special Forces''.

Wowow began producing original live-action TV series in 2003. The series called "Drama W" includes works such as ''[[Penance (Japanese TV series)|Penance]]'', ''[[xxxHolic (miniseries)|xxxHolic]]'', ''[[Karei-naru Ichizoku|The Grand Family]]'', ''[[Futagashira]]'' and ''[[Golden Kamuy: The Hunt of Prisoners in Hokkaido]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.wowowplus.jp/dramaw/lineup/|title= 連続ドラマWとは？|access-date= May 1, 2024|work= Wowow}}</ref>

=== Sports ===
Wowow has broadcast all four tennis Grand Slam Championships since 2008. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
; Current broadcast lineup<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.wowow.co.jp/sports/|title= スポーツ|access-date= June 1, 2023|work= Wowow}}</ref>
* [[Australian Open]]
* [[French Open]]
* [[The Championships, Wimbledon]]
* [[US Open (tennis)|US Open]]
* [[ATP Tour Masters 1000]]
* [[ATP Tour 500|ATP 500 series]]
* [[ATP Tour 250|ATP 250 series]]
* [[UEFA European Football Championship|UEFA Euro Championship]]
* [[UEFA Champions League]]
* [[UEFA Europa League]]
* [[UEFA Conference League]] 
* [[UEFA Super Cup]] 
* [[Boxing|"Wowow Excite Match" (Boxing)]]
* [[Super Rugby]]
* [[LPGA|LPGA Tour]]

=== President ===
The representative director, president & CEO of Wowow is, as of April 2024, Hitoshi Yamamoto.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://corporate.wowow.co.jp/en/company/message/|title = Top Message {{pipe}} Company Information {{pipe}} WOWOW Inc.}}</ref>

== International carriage ==
Under Japanese regulations, Wowow is not legally available outside of Japan.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ono |first1=T. |title=Networks in ASEAN expand |work=[[The Japan Times]] |date=August 1994}}</ref> It did have a shadow audience in South Korea and China, where the station's analog beam was accessible.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=M. |title=Satellite Fault Deprives Asia of Japan TV |work=Newsbytes News Network |date=October 30, 1995}}</ref> Wowow was one of the 18 channels that as of early 2000 has its coverage in [[China]] restricted mostly to foreign compounds.<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Clery |first=Conor |date=2000-02-04 |title=China's cultural commissars see Bugs Bunny as undesirable alien |language=en |newspaper=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/china-s-cultural-commissars-see-bugs-bunny-as-undesirable-alien-1.241244 |access-date=2021-07-25}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.wowow.co.jp/ WOWOW satellite website] {{in lang|ja}}
* {{anime News Network|company|100}}

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{{Portal bar|Tokyo|Television}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wowow}}
[[Category:Wowow| ]]
[[Category:1984 establishments in Japan]]
[[Category:Mass media companies established in 1984]]
[[Category:Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:2001 initial public offerings]]
[[Category:Mass media companies based in Tokyo]]
[[Category:Television networks in Japan]]
[[Category:Akasaka, Tokyo]]
[[Category:Television channels and stations established in 1990]]