Broadcast between 11 March 1990 and 28 November 2007, St.GIGA has undergone a number of changes of both carrier satellite and broadcast band. The following is a condensed history of these changes: • 2 April 1990 – St.GIGA is founded. • 1990 – St.GIGA began broadcasts on BS-3ch via the
BS-2a satellite. • August 1991 – St.GIGA switched to the
BS-3b satellite, and in September it began broadcasting on BS-5ch. • 23 April 1995 – Broadcasts begin to the
Super Famicom add-on,
Satellaview. • April 1999 – Nintendo withdraws support. • 30 June 2000 – Last Satellaview broadcast. • 1 December 2000 – St.GIGA began simultaneous broadcasts on Radio 333ch (Data broadcasting via 633 and 636ch). • 21 March 2003 – St.GIGA becomes Club COSMO. • 1 October 2003 – Club COSMO sold to WINJ. • 2005 – Club COSMO's 5ch broadcasts became analog (31 March) and the switch to 333ch was completed (10 May). • 2006 – WINJ begins St.GIGA rebroadcasts. • 28 November 2007 – All affiliated broadcast bands are terminated and the satellite broadcast certificate is revoked.
Origins and early success (1990–1994) In 1990, the Japanese
satellite television company
WOWOW decided to expand their services into the field of
satellite radio. where broadcast themes were approximately matched to the current tidal cycle according to the
rule of twelfths throughout the 24-hour broadcasting period. Under this innovative schedule, the station broadcast a variety of primarily ambient music programs including , various jazz programs, and (featuring live sound-broadcasts of the ocean shore). The beginnings and ends of programs were not clearly demarcated and instead utilized the unprecedented method where songs of one genre would gradually flow into and intersperse with the songs from the prior genre until the new genre became predominant. The intent, according to Yokoi was to allow the listener to relax in a wave of sound "like a baby sleeps in the womb." "Tide of Sounds" broadcasts often took the form of high-quality digital recordings of
nature sounds accompanied by
spoken word narration by an
actor as the "Voice". Throughout the life span of "Tide of Sounds" broadcasts, the part of the "Voice" would be played by a number of notable Japanese poets, including, among others, Ryo Michiko. "Voice" performances often consisted of all new poetry composed specifically for the show. St.GIGA also broadcast its B-mode audio programming (a series of all
classical music broadcasts) over analog broadcasting frequency bands that were shared with its parent, the satellite broadcasting company WOWOW. Highly artistic and experimental, the St.GIGA sound became extremely popular within certain segments of the population, and the station was recognized for its innovative concept, unique vision, and nonstandard methodology. The initial popularity of the music funded trips by St.GIGA
biomusic recorders to travel abroad to record at such exotic locations as
England,
Canary Islands,
Mikonos,
Venice,
Bali,
Tahiti,
Martinique,
Hanson Island (
BC), and
Maui. St.GIGA was also able to release a number of thematic books including the multi-volume
St.GIGA Stylebook, (containing the full text of Yokoi's original concept proposal), and . St.GIGA sold a variety of products ranging from program guides to "sound calendars" to fragrances. The company also released a number of CDs under St.GIGA's own label as well as a variety of foreign labels such as the
Hearts of Space, and music by
Deep Forest.
Nintendo relationship and Satellaview (1994–2000) '' which were only playable with
Nintendo's
Satellaview subsystem. By 1994, St.GIGA's financial difficulties resulted in the cutting back of "Tide of Sound" broadcasts. Beginning on 23 April 1995, St.GIGA broadcast video-game-related data to owners of the
Super Famicom's
Satellaview peripheral created by Nintendo. This device bolts onto the underside of the Super Famicom in a manner similar to the later
Nintendo 64DD's attachment to the
Nintendo 64 and the
Game Boy Player's attachment to the
GameCube. Only released to the Japanese market, the Satellaview acted as a
satellite modem, allowing players to download broadcast data. The resulting games were then stored on requisite specialized rewritable storage cartridges at an additional launch price of 14,000 yen ($143). This resulted in the withdrawal of Nintendo's five executive staff, and the withdrawal of all current and proposed programming plans by Nintendo, Kyocera, and "many content providers", that had been intended for launch in 2000; though Nintendo's 19.7% ownership portfolio remained intact. St.GIGA continued Satellaview broadcasts after this point; however, the company could only broadcast reruns of games previously transmitted as Nintendo had discontinued its supply of new original content as of March 1999. Facing economic difficulties again, St.GIGA discontinued its Satellaview broadcasts on 30 June 2000 in order to return focus to music broadcasts as had been done prior to the Nintendo deal. St.GIGA was rechristened under the leadership of . Broadcasts continued until 1 October, when the company was forced to sell its licensing rights to World Independent Networks Japan Inc. (WINJ). WireBee immediately began bankruptcy procedures, and all recording instruments and 241 tapes of nature sounds were auctioned off at open market for a total divided sale price of ¥5 million. Discussions concerning Club COSMO's involvement under WINJ's oversight in a new reality show were circulated briefly at this time, however to date no such show has been produced. In 2006, WINJ began broadcasting reruns of St.GIGA's original "Tide of Sound" and "Time & Tide" broadcasts during a 2–4 p.m. time slot; however, on 1 November of the same year, these broadcasts were suspended on the pretext of broadcasting equipment maintenance. The program was scheduled to resume in the 2007 fiscal year. However, on 14 November 2007,
Hiroya Masuda the Minister of
Internal Affairs revoked the broadcasting certificate under Act 54 of Article 24 of the Japanese General Broadcasting Statute. ==See also==