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WOWOW was the first private satellite broadcasting and pay TV station in Japan. It began analog broadcasting on April 1 1991. 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).
WOWOW mostly rebroadcasts movies, but is also well known for showing original anime series such as Big O, Brain Powerd, Carried by the Wind: Tsukikage Ran, Trinity Blood, Cowboy Bebop (the complete uncut version), Shinreigari/Ghost Hound, Crest of the Stars, Ergo Proxy, X/1999 and Paranoia Agent, as well as the Anime Complex block. Due to the looser broadcast standards for satellite television in Japan, WOWOW has become a primary means of widespread distribution for anime with themes or subject matter that the broadcast networks cannot show. Several anime studios have partnership deals for distributing their more mature series, with the famed Studio Madhouse among them.
The channel's name is a double "Wow", and the three W's also stand for "World-Wide-Watching".
WOWOW also broadcasts American television series such as Friends, CSI series, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Cold Case, Grey's Anatomy, Medium, The 4400, Project Runway, South Park, The Simpsons and others. WOWOW previously broadcasted Ultimate Fighting Championship events to Japanese audiences. They also have broadcasted the Korean drama My Name is Kim Sam Soon and the UK comedy sketch show Little Britain with the British drama/action show Ultimate Force under the name SAS: British Special Forces.
WOWOW also simulcasts some of its programming in High Definition on its HD feed.
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