On July 2, 1960, the Japan Science and Technology Promotion Foundation (now ) applied to the Ministry of Post for a television broadcast license for the VHF12 channel returned by the U.S. military stationed in Japan. As part of the license application, the majority of programs were set to be science and technology education programs; the rest were to be general education and news programs. However, after this decision was issued, three other companies participating in the bidding, including Central Educational Broadcasting, raised objections to the Postmaster General, and the debate was not concluded until 1969.
1960s After the Science and Technology Promotion Foundation obtained its broadcasting license, it immediately invited Kurata, then president of Hitachi Production Co., Ltd., to serve as the head of the television business headquarters and began preparations for the launch. At noon on April 12, 1964, Tokyo Channel 12 officially launched (broadcasting as ); as well as the Japanese economy being in a securities recession at the time, Tokyo Channel 12 immediately fell into serious operating difficulties. In the first year of broadcasting, it recorded a deficit of 1.38 billion yen. In 1966, Tokyo Channel 12 decided to shorten daily broadcasting to five hours and thirty minutes, and attempts were made to rebuild by requesting donations from powerful financial companies, laying off employees, and suspending advertising business activities. However, Tokyo Channel 12 planned to lay off 200 people. This triggered backlash from the labor union and led to a four-year dispute. In 1967, Tokyo Channel 12 changed its reconstruction plan again, extending the daily broadcast time to 8 hours and 10 minutes, requesting companies in the financial sector to donate funds for reconstruction, and restarting advertising activities. At the same time, four other private TV stations in Tokyo and NHK formed the "Science TV Coordination Committee" to assist in the reconstruction of Tokyo Channel 12 and provide broadcasting parts for the Program. These measures halved the accumulated losses of Tokyo Channel 12 to approximately 1.743 billion yen in 1967. On March 28, 1968, Tokyo Channel 12 began broadcasting color programs. When the operating conditions of Tokyo Channel 12 were in trouble again in 1968, the Science and Technology Promotion Foundation abandoned the previous method of soliciting donations from the financial sector and instead invited the financial sector to inject capital to rebuild the television department. On July 1 of the same year, twenty companies in the Japanese financial circle—including Mainichi Broadcasting,
Hitachi, Ltd., and
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.—invested in the establishment of Tokyo Channel 12 Production Company (Tokyo Twelve Channel Co., Ltd.) with a capital of 1 billion. The Science and Technology Promotion Foundation has the television broadcasting license and facility management rights, while Tokyo Channel 12 Production is responsible for program arrangement, production, and advertising business. As Mainichi Broadcasting invested in the establishment of Tokyo Channel 12 Production Company, a network relationship was actually formed between Tokyo Channel 12 and
Mainichi Broadcasting System during this period. Some programs of Tokyo Channel 12 were broadcast in Kinki through
Mainichi Broadcasting. In 1969, Tokyo Channel 12 Production once again increased its capital by ¥1 billion, of which Nihon Keizai Shimbun invested ¥600 million, becoming the largest shareholder of Tokyo Channel 12 Production.
1970s In 1970, Tokyo Channel 12 achieved 100% colorization of evening prime-time programs and achieved profitability for the first time in the same year through business activities. On October 24, 1973, Tokyo Channel 12 Production Co., Ltd. changed its company name to Tokyo Channel 12 Co., Ltd. (Tokyo 12 Channel Co., Ltd.), officially taking over the operation of Tokyo Channel 12 from the Science and Technology Promotion Foundation. On November 1 of the same year, as the Ministry of Post and Post abolished the educational television license in the Keihin area, Tokyo Channel 12 was officially transformed into a comprehensive television station, and the program broadcast ratio was changed to 20% of educational programs, 30% of educational programs, and other programs 50%. In March 1975, due to Mainichi Broadcasting joining JNN, Tokyo Channel 12 terminated its relationship with Mainichi Broadcasting Network and strengthened cooperation with Kinki local independent stations SUN TV and Kinki Broadcasting. In 1969, the
Nikkei and MBS signed a memorandum of understanding which stipulated that Tokyo Channel 12 should share programs with Nihon Educational Television (NET, now
TV Asahi), this arrangement lasted until 1975. In October 1977 Tokyo Channel 12 Production was renamed ; and shortened the channel's name to , dropping "Science TV" from its name. At the same time, the station moved to
Shiba Park. A month later, it became a general-purpose TV station along with NET. On April 1, 1978, Tokyo launched a new production company, Softx.
1980s In 1981, it was again renamed, this time to
Television Tokyo Channel 12, Ltd. d/b/a TV Tokyo; the current Japanese name of the company was also assumed in the same year. In 1983, TV Tokyo formed the Mega TON Network (now
TX Network) with
TV Osaka, and
Aichi Television Broadcasting. The company shifted its head offices from
Shiba Park to
Toranomon in December 1985.
1990s to present On October 4, 1999, Tokyo's production company Softx was renamed TV Tokyo MediaNet. In 2004, TV Tokyo MediaNet was shortened to MediaNet. On June 25, 2004, the company assumed its current English name TV Tokyo Corporation. After the digital transition, the channel began broadcasting on digital channel 7. On November 7, 2016, TV Tokyo moved its headquarters to the new building at
Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower from its old studios in Toranomon. The network initially used a
Circle 7-style logo to broadcast animated programs. The station mascot is a cartoon banana with eyes, a nose, and a mouth which is bent into a 7, named Nanana (). The network is part of the
Japan Consortium, which covers the
Olympic Games and the
FIFA World Cup. TV Tokyo logo (1981-1985).svg|TV Tokyo logo used between 1981 and 1985. This is the first variation of the テレビ東京 wordmark styling, which was used between 1981 and 1998. TV Tokyo logo 20110629.svg|The network's logo from October 1, 1998, until November 12, 2023. TV Tokyo logo 2023 en.svg|The network's current English logo, used for international operations. ==Programming==