Editing Wowow (section)

== History ==
Wowow began pre-opening broadcasts on November 29, 1990, with service beginning the following day, on November 30, 1990. By 1992, Wowow had 800,000 subscribers.<ref name="in">{{cite news |title=More specialist shows in store for Japan TV viewers |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19920422-1.2.12.21 |access-date=23 December 2023 |work=The Straits Times |date=22 April 1992}}</ref> Digital broadcasting began on December 1, 2000. The network began with 207,753 subscribers (31.5 billion [[yen]] in sales), growing to 2,667,414 two years later (64.5 billion yen in sales). As of December 2011, Wowow claimed approximately 2.56 million subscribers to its digital service.<ref>Wowow Inc. (2011). [https://www.wowow.co.jp/info_e/subscription/2011.html Business Summary: Subscription.] Accessed on January 31, 2012.</ref> On July 24, 2011, Wowow shut down its analog broadcast.

Previously, Wowow's headquarters were in another facility in Akasaka.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20080413164424/www.wowow.co.jp/info_e/index2.html Corporate Information]." Wowow. April 13, 2008. Retrieved on November 20, 2010. "1-5-8, Moto Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8080" [https://web.archive.org/web/20080215000147/www.wowow.co.jp/co_info/index2.html Japanese address]: "東京都港区元赤坂1-5-8"</ref>

On October 1, 2011, Wowow expanded their single channel broadcast satellite service to provide four high-definition TV channels:<ref>Wowow Inc. (2011). [https://corporate.wowow.co.jp/en/company/business/ Business {{pipe}} Company Information {{pipe}} WOWOW Inc.] Accessed on January 31, 2012.</ref> Wowow Prime (WOWOWプライム), a general entertainment channel, Wowow Live (WOWOWライブ), covering sports, documentaries, movies and live performances, Wowow Cinema (WOWOWシネマ), a 24-hour movie channel and Wowow Plus.

Wowow also operated a 4K channel which launched in March 2021 and closed on February 28, 2025.<ref>{{cite news |title=「WOWOW 4K」きょう放送終了 BS左旋は4月から「NHK BS8K」のみに |url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/ce40725db6e9f6226fd9d8346b107d825a7f1efc |work=Yahoo News Japan |agency=ITmedia news |date=February 28, 2025 |language=ja}}</ref>