National Network

From Gandoor Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
National Network
Nationalnetworklogo.png
National Network logo used since 2003
Launched7 October 1950 (1950-10-07)
Owned byRTV
Picture format
  • 480i (16:9) (SDTV)
  • 1080i (HDTV)
Audience share11.9% (April 2026, GBRB)
CountryGandoor
Broadcast areaGandoor
Formerly called
  • Rajio Terebi (1950-1979)
  • RTV (1979-2003)

National Network is a commercial television channel in Gandoor owned by RTV. The channel began broadcasting in 1950 and is one of the three remaining 'original' television networks that began broadcasting in the period between the start of television broadcasting in Gandoor in 1949 and the Great TV Crash of 1957. The other still-broadcasting television networks from that period are GBN and Osaka TV.

History

National Network originated as Rajio-Terebi (Japanese: ラジオ・テレビ), the television arm of Wonder Waves Radio Corporation, which began airing on 7 October 1950. The network was aimed at Japanese-Gandoorese and aired programming entirely in the Japanese language, making it the first network in Gandoor to broadcast exclusively in a language other than English. (The Gandoor Broadcasting Network, the television channel operated by the Gandoor Broadcasting Corporation aired programming all three of Gandoor's official languages: English, Japanese, and Russian)

Rajio-Terebi survived the Great TV Crash due to the fact their parent company viewed television broadcasting as secondary to radio broadcasting and the network's programming was already considered low-budget, even for the time.

In 1960, Rajio-Terebi aired its first series in the English language, an English-language remake of their 1951 to 1953 television series Roses (Japanese: バラ, bara), not to be confused with the GBN drama Rose. While Japanese-language programming would remain the dominant language used on the network for several more years, in 1965, they would introduce 'English-Time' (Japanese: 英語タイム, Eigo Taimu), programming blocks throughout their broadcast day during which they would air English-language programming, predominantly English-language versions of their own series and some English dubs of programming from Japan.

Rajio-Terebi is considered to be responsible for the Japanese pop culture invasion of Gandoor that began in the 1970s, on account of them having aired various anime and tokusatsu programming starting in the early 70s.

In 1977, Wonder Waves Radio Corporation spun-off their television arm into a new company, RTV. Because of the fact that Rajio-Terebi was no longer owned by a radio broadcaster and therefore no longer needed to abide by the 1939 law prohibiting television stations owned by radio broadcasters from having similar names to their radio stations, the channel was officially renamed to RTV in 1979. That same year, they officially ended the English-Time programming block, replacing it with a simple message before a program informing viewers if a series was in English or Japanese. (By this point, almost all Japanese-language programming aired subtitled on the network, with the only exceptions being tokusatsu series and some anime)

High-definition broadcasting began in August 2001 and all original programming currently airs in 1080p.

RTV was renamed to National Network in June 2003, officially due to wanting to retire the then-24 year old branding of the network. This renaming was criticized by long-term viewers, some of whom announced a boycott of the network, although this did not severely impact ratings.

Programming

National Network airs a mixture of both domestic and foreign programming, predominantly from Japan, although Korean series have also been broadcast since 2013.

Since the 2010 discontinuation of the Chiddies programming block on GBN, National Network remains the only standard OTA television channel in Gandoor to continue to air children's programming, currently as part of the National Kids Time programming block aired on weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings.

Non-English language programming, both foreign and domestic, airs with optional subtitles on the network, although if a program has an English-language dub, then that will usually also be an option for viewing. English-language programming, however, does not air with a subtitle option.

Popular domestic programming includes: Life and Death, Setsuko and Her Family, and the Space Detective Series. Popular foreign programming includes: the Kamen Rider Series, the Pretty Cure series, and Show! Music Core.