About the studio
Nippon Television, or NTV, was founded in October 1952 by Matsutaro Shoriki and began broadcasting August 28, 1953, making it the first commercial television broadcaster anywhere in Asia. *That's not a small footnote, that's genuinely historic.* Based in Shiodome, Minato, Tokyo, NTV has spent over 70 years as one of Japan's major networks, and anime fans likely know it best as the long-time broadcast home of Detective Conan, one of the longest running anime series ever made. Owned by The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings and operating under Nippon Television Holdings today, NTV's role in anime is primarily as a broadcaster and occasional financier rather than a production studio. Being first at anything in broadcasting means decades of ripple effects, and NTV's early dominance helped shape how commercial television, anime included, developed across the rest of Japan and the wider region. Not bad for a network that's now over 70 years old.