Web ups stake in Wowow

Fuji overtakes Mitsubishi with 5000-share buy

By TAD OSAKI

TOKYO -- Japanese commercial web Fuji TV is now the lead shareholder in satcaster Wowow after upping its share to 6.7% at an estimated cost of $40 million.

Fuji TV, already one of the three lead shareholders in satellite platform Sky Perfect, along with Sony and the Itochu trading house, purchased about 5,000 Wowow shares Feb. 13 from the Mothers Division of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, where the satcaster has been listed since April 2001.

Mitsubishi, the previous Wowow lead shareholder with a 5% stake, is now the second largest stakeholder in the satcaster, followed by Tokyo Broadcasting Systems (TBS), the third largest terrestrial network, which boosted its shares to 4.9% from 1.9%.

The two webs increased their stakes in an attempt to get more of their programming on the satcaster. Founded in 1990 by 194 broadcasters, newspapers, publishing and trading houses, banks, movie studios and ad agencies, Wowow has 2.5 million subscribers.

A spokesman for Wowow, which operates both analog and digital channels, welcomed the closer ties with Fuji and TBS, which he said would improve digital HDTV operations in Japan.