03.25.05
Softbank Company Steps In to Help Fuji TV
From The Japan Times: An affiliate of Softbank Corp. turned into a white knight for Nippon Broadcasting and Fuji TV by buying the largest stake in the broadcaster on March 24, putting a hold on a controversial takeover by Internet portal Livedoor. Only a day before, Livedoor had enjoyed a small victory when the Tokyo High Court stopped NBS from issuing share warrants to Fuji TV in order to fend off a takeover. “In order to strengthen ties among partners, NBS will lend its Fuji TV shares to Softbank Investment,” the three corporations said in a joint statement. Softbank Investment’s chief executive officer, Yoshitaka Kitao, was firm in saying Softbank Corp. was not involved in the deal. The companies said they would put 20 billion yen into investments in media content startups.
–By Japan Media Review Managing Editor Shellie Branco
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03.21.05
Popular Cell Phone Novels Connect Authors, Readers
From AP via The San Francisco Examiner: Several mobile Web sites are catering to the next emerging mobile culture in Japan: literature on cell phones. Hundreds of novels, including classics, best sellers and new works written only for cell phone users, are available online. Readers can read a few lines of a book at a time, which are downloaded in short segments. Bandai Networks Co. Ltd., a mobile service provider, launched a mobile e-book service in 2003 and carries 150 books with some 50,000 subscribers on its Web site “Bunko Yomihodai” (“All You Can Read Paperbacks”). Readers can search books by author, title or genre on the site as well as post reviews and send fan mail or ideas to authors through their cell phones. A recent marketing survey by Bandai reported more than half of readers are female and most reading is done at home. A novel titled “Deep Love,” originally posted on a minor mobile site, became popular through word of mouth among young readers. That resulted in a film and TV show deals, as well as a comic book and printed novel that sold about 2.6 million copies. An executive producer at Starts Publishing Corp., which published “Deep Love,” points out that cell phone publishing has formed a new kind of entertainment because of its interactive nature.
–By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
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03.19.05
NHK Cell Phone Site Posts False Disaster News
From Mainichi Daily News: Public broadcaster NHK accidentally posted false disaster information during a system test on a news site accessed by thousands of cell phone users. For some 20 hours between March 18 and 19, users accessing the site’s tsunami information section could see postings on mock train accidents, such as “[Japan Rail] line tracks in all parts of the Metropolitan area are on fire,” and “Shinjuku station has collapsed.” The broadcaster failed to terminate its test system, leaving the information displayed on the site. While NHK took action after receiving a user’s query 13 minutes after the last test, many people could still access the information until noon the following day. An NHK representative apologized for the mistake, saying the broadcaster would try to avoid another accident.
–By Japan Media Review Associate Editor Keiko Mori
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