First International Radio Relay Broadcast in Japan (1930)
The first-ever international relay broadcast directly reporting an event is considered to be the one from Dorchester Station in London in which Reijiro Wakatsuki, Japanese Minister Plenipotentiary to the London Disarmament Conference gave a “declaration to the Japanese nation”. This broadcast was received at Yokkaichi receiving station of the Nippon Radio Telephone Company, then transmitted nationwide via the Nagoya station (Feb. 9, 1930).

Lifeline of the International Society
1989 was when the Showa era passed into the Heisei era in Japan. Global-scale diastrophisms occurred in the areas of politics/economics/society in the last ten years of the 20th century. By the time regular satellite broadcasting was started by NHK in 1989, drastic changes on the international scene were happening daily. These events included the Tiananmen Square Incident in China, the fall of Berlin Wall in November 1989, the Gulf War in January 1991, and the failed coup d'etat by conservatives in August of the same year that marked the beginning of the collapse of the Soviet Union. This led to the end of the Cold War between the East and the West. It is said that information obtained through TV played a significant role in ending the Cold War world. As interdependence is now becoming strong in the earth society, TV is seen as one network linking every citizen of the earth.
Transmissions via communications satellite from overseas were approximately 50 hours per year when NHK started its service in 1968. This grew to 7,600 hours in 1989, and 19,200 hours in 1999. Information dispatched from Japan to abroad reached 6,700 hours in 1999.

Prompt Report System for Newscasts
The introduction of the satellite news gathering (SNG) system in Japan coincided with the spread of the satellite broadcasting network. The SNG system established a relay broadcasting system capable of video data distribution from anywhere in Japan by simply pointing a transmitting antenna at the satellite. In this sense, the satellite transmission system became available to both Japan and the world within a short period of time.
SNG coverage of emergencies such as on the large pyroclastic flow disaster at Unzen-Fugendake and the Great Hanshin Earthquake piqued people’s interest in reports of such incidents. The satellite broadcasting capability and the simplified news coverage system made it feasible to provide immediate, continuous TV reporting even during catastrophes.

Simultaneous Terrorist Attacks
During the evening of September 11, 2001, NHK “News at 10” broadcast live the very moment that a commercial airliner smashed into the World Trade Center, a prominent landmark in the United States of America. The live relay broadcast continued to cover shocking video images from the Pentagon in flames and the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings. People throughout the world simultaneously witnessed the largest terrorist attacks in human history on television.
Later, reports related to the 9.11 incidents such as scenes from a “war” against the Taliban in Afghanistan were shown live, delivered using cellular phones and videophones thanks to advanced communications technology.
The Taliban, a group reported to be against and to have banned TV viewing, sent a video message from Osama Bin Laden on a satellite TV station “Al Jazeera” in Qatar immediately after the U.S. and U.K. air raid.
TV, in this global society, cannot be ignored by anybody.

1. Satellite News Gathering System: SNG
2. Citizens of the Earth Sing Beethoven’s Symphony NO. 9 at the Nagano Olympic Games