Shenghua Broadcasting Corporation
| Shenghua Broadcasting Corporation | |
|---|---|
| Senior staff | |
| Founder | mi_aquamarine |
| CEO | mi_aquamarine |
| Facts and figures | |
| Headquarters | Shenghua |
| Founded | 11/24/2020 |
The Shenghua Broadcasting Corporation (Chinese: 盛华广播公司, Japanese: 盛華放送協会, Spanish: Corporación de Radiodifusión de Shenghua) is a city-financed broadcasting corporation in the city of Shenghua. It broadcasts in Shenghua on several radio stations, and television stations NSTV, NSTP NTRS, and NTVH on channels 4, 13, 3, and 8, respectively. It mainly reports on local news in Shenghua and Nansei-Gunto, along with international MRT reporting. It was Shenghua's member of the Nansei-Gunto Broadcasting Association until its dissolution.
History
Lore
Pre-1945: Before SBC
Before the Shenghua Broadcasting Corporation was established, radio stations based in neighboring Shahai were popular among locals. However, they became unpopular in the early 20th century when Kazeshiman forces took over the stations, essentially acting as a mouthpiece for the colonial government. The city eventually lost all Shahainese radio broadcasts in the War of Nansei-Gunto, when air raids by Itokani forces destroyed Shahai's radio transmission facilities.
1945-1963: Early beginnings
Shenghua, along with Kazeshima's other former colonies were liberated on February 29, 1945. Shenghua's residents, were finally free of the Kazeshiman Empire's restrictive control over the media, which meant they could now express themselves freely for the first time in 52 years. Shenghua's residents wanted to broadcast their thoughts with the rest of the Nansei-Gunto, and with the help of the newly established government of the Autonomous Republic of Shenghua, the Shenghua Broadcasting Corporation was established on March 30, 1945. Its first radio broadcast was made at 6pm a few days later, on April 1. Many residents thought this was an April Fools joke and shrugged it off, but there were still eager listeners who gathered around radios in the minutes leading up to the broadcast. The Voice of Shenghua (Chinese: 盛华之声, present day News Radio) signed on at NSZS FM 98.8 with the message "Today marks a monumental day in Shenghua and Nansei-Gunto's history, and we hope you'll join us on this journey as we touch minds all over the region," following the same message read in Chinese. From that day on, the Voice of Shenghua broadcasted daily from 6pm to 8pm, alternating between Chinese and English every other day.
1963-1978: Rising media influence
The Voice of Shenghua soon became a popular media source not only in Shenghua, but throughout Nansei-Gunto. As a result of rising demand, the Voice of Shenghua extended its daily airtime 3 hours earlier to 3pm. Programming from 3pm to 6pm rotated between Japanese, French, and Afrikaans each day to satisfy the demands of listeners from Kazeshima, Shahai, and Wenyanga, respectively. Radio broadcasts remained a hit for several years, with many gathering around radios every evening, although SBC never knew that there would soon be the dawn of a new era: television.
1978-1981: Early television
As television increased in popularity in neighboring Shahai, the local station Shahai Télévision came up with a way to gain more revenue and viewership. The station started distributing a television set to each household in Shenghua. At the time, Shenghua had inadequate housing, with several families living in one residence. By distributing a television set to each household, this could multiply to many people watching television in the city at a time, thus increasing viewership, and increasing advertising revenue as advertisers were now eager to pay more to promote products to more people. SBC immediately took note of this, and in order to reach to audiences who had stopped listening to radio in favor of television, SBC and Shahai Télévisions made a deal to allocate 3 hours of daily airtime to SBC, with advertising revenues split between 75% for Shahai Télévisions and 25% for SBC. Shenghua Television began broadcasting on April 1, 1975, the 30th anniversary of the Voice of Shenghua, on Shahai Télévisions' channel space. It broadcasted daily from noon to 3pm, with programming rotating each day between SBC's Chinese, English, and French departments to comply with Shenghuanian and Shahainese language programming requirements.
1981-1999: STV becomes independent
Amid conflicts between STV and Shahai Télévisions over advertising revenue sharing, SBC decided not to renew its contract with Shahai Télévision in March 1981. Thus, after its final broadcast over Shahai Télévision's channel space on March 31 of that year, STV temporarily went off air for several months as it upgraded its radio transmitter to be able to broadcast television signals. STV later started broadcasting through the upgraded transmitter at noon on June 1, 1981, available on channel 4. STV broadcasted daily from noon to midnight. French-language programs were removed from the schedule, and were replaced with Japanese and Spanish programs, as per Shenghua's new language policies, with production of French programs previously produced by STV taken over by Shahai Télévisions. Each language got three hours of airtime per day, in the order of Spanish, Japanese, English, and Chinese. After Wenyanga abolished its racist regime in 1997, all Nansei-Gunto television and radio began broadcasting in isiXhosa and Zulu, which up until then had been banned.
1999-2009: New innovations
On March 1, 1999, STV was split into two channels, with STV4 broadcasting in Chinese and English, and STV3 broadcasting in Japanese and Spanish. STV4 started broadcasting 24/7, while STV3 began broadcasting daily from 4pm to 2am the next day. At midnight that day, all commercial advertising was abolished from SBC services, opting to be funded by government grants and viewer donations instead. From May 1, 2004, STV began broadcasting on digital television. Two digital subchannels were made, which were STV Prime, which broadcasted cultural and educational programs, and STV News, on channels 4.2 and 4.3, respectively. With this change, several genres of English programming were moved to STV Prime, such as children's programming and public affairs programming. STV Edition, STV's flagship English news program, along with popular drama and comedy programs, continued to air on STV4 up until the digital transition. SBC also made Spanish and Japanese content reforms. SBC3 continued to air programs in both languages on analog and digital, while 2 digital subchannels, STV Spanish (3.2) and STV Japanese (3.3), began airing additional language content. At this time, SBC also joined the Nansei-Gunto Broadcasting Association, and now it shares programming with other broadcasters in the region. SBC's radio division also underwent changes this time. To accommodate changing listener preferences and to organize the Voice of Shenghua's already cluttered schedule, several changes were made. The Voice of Shenghua had its callsign changed to NSRN and was renamed News Radio (while retaining its Chinese name), and launched three new stations: Music Radio, Traffic Radio (which was later split into separate English and Chinese dedicated stations), and Ethnic Minority Radio.
2009-present: Digital age
At midnight on April 1, 2009, all of SBC's channels ceased analog broadcasts and were only broadcasted as digital channels. SBC's channels were also rebranded, with some programming moved. STV4 was renamed to STV one, all of STV4's remaining English programs were moved to STV plus (formerly STV Prime), thus becoming a dedicated English channel, and STV News was renamed to STV info. At 4am that day, STV3 was renamed to La 3, becoming a dedicated Spanish channel. STV Spanish and STV Japanese were discontinued, with Japanese programs moving to a new channel, TV Hachi, on channel 8. As Nansei-Gunto's economic prosperity growed, the region attracted many new immigrants. This, coupled with the rise in refugees from Totem Beach, prompted SBC to launch three new stations on November 24, 2020. These included Immigrant Radio, Refugee Radio, and Islander Radio, which serves listeners from elsewhere in Nansei-Gunto. In May 2021, STV Plus was moved to digital channel 13 and was rebranded to TV13. On September 12, SBC's Chinese television channels were rebranded under the SBC brand, with their Chinese names remaining the same. Children's programs on all channels were unified under the SBCKids brand as well. On July 1, 2022, SBC's television channels were rebranded to unify the SBC brand and emphasize the respective channels' numbers. On October 19, 2022, SBC began transmitting from the Shenghua Tower the same day it was completed. That same day, SBC's radio channels were rebranded. In addition to these changes, English programming moved from Radio 1 (formerly News Radio) to Radio 3 (formerly English Traffic Radio). As a result, SBC now has dedicated Chinese and English radio channels.
Radio
SBC operates 8 radio stations broadcasting across Nansei-Gunto in the city's four languages, along with additional language services aimed at immigrants and the rest of Nansei-Gunto. It also operates a station broadcasting in Spanish and Russian aimed at Totem Beach refugees, which is also available on shortwave for reception in Totem Beach.
| Name | Callsign | FM frequency | Genre | Primary Language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radio 1 formerly News Radio |
NSRN | 98.8 | News, Talk | Chinese |
| Radio 2 formerly Music Radio |
NSRM | 98.9 | Music | Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean |
| Radio 3 formerly English Traffic Radio |
NSRT | 99.0 | News, Talk, Traffic | English |
| Radio 4 formerly Chinese Traffic Radio |
NSRJ | 99.1 | Traffic | Chinese |
| Radio 5 formerly Ethnic Minority Radio |
NSRE | 99.2 | News, Talk, Music | Japanese, Spanish |
| Radio 6 formerly Immigrant Radio |
NSRI | 99.3 | Informational programs | Various |
| Radio 7 formerly Refugee Radio |
NSRR | 99.4 | Informational programs | Spanish, Russian |
| Radio 8 formerly Islander Radio |
NSRQ | 99.5 | Informational programs | Korean, French, Afrikaans, Xhosa, Zulu, Malay, Tamil |
Television
SBC operates 4 networks broadcasting in the city's official and recognized languages, which are Chinese, English, Japanese, and Spanish. As of October 19, 2022, they are transmitted from the Shenghua Tower in southern Shenghua. Formerly, SBC transmitted from the Nansei Pearl Tower in Shahai, with secondary transmitters in New Singapore. SBC4 is the most viewed station in Shenghua, ahead of SBC13 and Channel 6 from New Singapore.
SBC4 (NSTV)
| Name | Channel Number (Terrestrial) | Genre | Primary Language | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBC4 | 4.1 | General programs | Chinese | 16:9 1080p |
| SBC News SBC新闻台 |
4.2 | News and informational programs | Chinese | 16:9 720p |
| SBCKids | 4.3 | Children's programs | Chinese, English | 16:9 720p |
SBC3 (NTRS)
| Name | Channel Number (Terrestrial) | Genre | Primary Language | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBC3 | 3.1 | General programs | Spanish | 16:9 1080p |
SBC8 (NTVH)
| Name | Channel Number (Terrestrial) | Genre | Primary Language | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBC8 | 8.1 | General programs | Japanese | 16:9 1080p |
SBC13 (NSTP)
| Name | Channel Number (Terrestrial) | Genre | Primary Language | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SBC13 | 13.1 | General programs | English | 16:9 1080p |
SBCPlay
SBCPlay is SBC's online on demand service, consisting of both radio and television. No fees or registration is required to use the service, however one must create a free account in order to download episodes. The service lets users watch livestreams of SBC's television channels and listen to streams of SBC's radio stations. It also has program guides for all SBC stations. Episodes of television and radio programs are made available for streaming the next morning after they premiere, and can be streamed for one month afterwards. Mobile users may also download programs for up to 2 weeks for offline viewing. SBCPlay has a parental lock feature that can allow all programs, only those for teenagers, or only those for children. Users who are signed in may also choose individual programs to restrict as well. Due to rights issues, video and audio playback is region-locked to Shenghua with the exception of news and Refugee Radio content as these programs' rights are fully cleared by SBC. Program guides and downloaded programs may be viewed regardless of location.
SBC International
SBC International is a subsidiary of SBC established on March 24, 2022 that manages foreign broadcasters with ownership transferred to Shenghua, mainly in the former Nansei-Gunto. It owns Channel 6 and NanseiNewsNow in New Singapore, and B!tv in Lumeva. It also owns MiuTV in the Republic of Miu Wan. These channels air advertising, unlike SBC's domestic counterparts.
Channel 6 (NSIX)
| Name | Channel Number (Terrestrial) | Genre | Primary Language | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Channel 6 | 6.1 | General programs | English | 16:9 1080p |
| NanseiNewsNow | 6.2 | News | English | 16:9 1080p |
B!tv (NBTE, NBTA, NBTX)
| Name | Channel Number (Terrestrial) | Genre | Primary Language | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B!news | 10.1 | News | English | 16:9 1080p |
| B!sports | 10.2 | Sports | English, Afrikaans | 16:9 1080p |
| B!kids | 10.3 | Children | English | 16:9 1080p |
| B!entertaiment | 10.4 | Entertainment | English | 16:9 1080p |
| B!nuus | 15.1 | News | Afrikaans | 16:9 1080p |
| B!kinders | 15.2 | Children | Afrikaans | 16:9 1080p |
| B!vermaak | 15.3 | Afrikaans | 16:9 1080p | |
| B!iindaba | 18.1 | Xhosa | 16:9 1080p | |
| B!ukuzonwabisa | 18.2 | Xhosa | 16:9 1080p |
MiuTV
| Name | Channel Number (Terrestrial) | Genre | Primary Language | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MiuTVsix | 56 | General programs | English | 16:9 1080p |
| MiuTV | 59 | General programs | Cantonese | 16:9 1080p |