English-language service gets nationwide platform ahead of Tokyo Olympics

NHK World Japan, the 24-hour English-language channel, will join DirecTV’s basic channel lineup on Monday, Dec. 16, gaining a nationwide TV berth ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. The network, which has U.S. distribution via sub-channel carriage on public TV stations, offers an extensive range of international news and Asian lifestyle programming and is an authoritative information source on Japan and Asia, NHK said in a release.

“Carriage nationally on channel 322 of DirecTV is an important milestone for NHK World Japan, and we are very pleased that we will become part of the channel lineup that all viewers will receive,” Masaru Shiromoto, president and CEO of Japan International Broadcasting (JIB), the worldwide distributor of NHK World Japan, said in a release. “By bringing our original and diverse programming to DirecTV, we will now have the ability to reach even more viewers, making our wide variety of programs more accessible to new audiences. This is especially gratifying given that all eyes will be on Tokyo in 2020.”

“We’re happy to have NHK World Japan on DirecTV and know that our customers will enjoy the vast array of programming the channel offers,” Daniel York, chief content officer, AT&T, said in the release.

Carried in the U.S. since 2009, NHK World Japan reaches viewers through affiliates in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Atlanta, Seattle, Denver, Orlando, Charlotte, Baltimore and Salt Lake City. It's also available through streaming services Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku, as well as via a free downloadable app and streaming on the website nhk.jp/world.