Aso Broadcasting System

The Aso Broadcasting System  is a Dahrconian multicultural television network. It is currently the third-most popular television network in the country. The network is owned and operated by ABS Corporation Limited.

History
ABS started broadcasting on the 1st of October 1967 on channel 10 in Superabet City, funded by a group of Japanese and El Kadsreian immigrants.

The station's early programming lineup mostly consisted of subtitled programs from Nippon Television and TV Asahi. ABS also produced its own news programs under the name "ABS N6", and was broadcast across the network nationwide at 6 pm on weekdays (hence the "N6" name). This program became ABS's flagship newscast and is still airing today.

In 1995, ABS launched ABS Sat1, a broadcast satellite channel which transmits additional programs to complement the national feed.

The station launched its international outside broadcast satellite service on September 15, 1997. ABS claims that the service was launched "to give the world a taste of Dahrconia’s most unique entertainment, and news from a Japanese viewpoint, all in the English language". The same year also marked ABS's 30th year of operation.

ABS HD was launched as a 1080i high definition simulcast of ABS's national feed on the 15th of April 2007 as part of the station's 40th anniversary. The service shut down in 2011 when the main ABS television channel started airing in full 1080p HD.

After realizing that it had shifted from English-language broadcasting of Japanese, Korean, and El Kadsreian programs, to airing a wide spectrum of programs from East Asia, the El Kadsreian Islands, and abroad, it officially repositioned itself as a "multicultural" network. It added, however, that its core Japanese bilingual schedule would take up most of the network's prime-time hours.

On-air presentation
From launch until 2003, sign-on was announced by the following voice-over;

"DNOBX-TV, this is ABS Television."

In 2008, ABS debuted its first-ever purposefully-made sign-on sequence, during a period when ABS was riding high on its Doraemon popularity. showing Nobita and the other characters "flying" in and around Superabet City, and some of its major landmarks, with Madonna's "Ray of Light" as background music. ABS staff claim that this particular opening sequence was made as a spoof of Microsoft's 2001 Windows XP commercial, with comparisons being made by viewers right from the get-go. Microsoft Corporation declined to comment.

In 2013, another opening sequence was introduced, with the second half of Doraemon 's 2007 OP as footage, and the accompanying "Yume wo Kanaete, Doraemon!" music in the background.

With ABS attempting to reboot the PaRappa The Rapper anime series in 2015, PaRappa's "Love Together" opening (from the 1st season of the original anime) was reworked into ABS' then-latest opening sequence.

With PaRappa taking a swift nosedive in popularity as announced prior to the end of the 2015 FY, ABS, on the 1st of April, reverted once again to another set of Doraemon-themed sign-on sequences. This time, it took the form of a minute-long animated short showing Nobita and Doraemon on a train to the ABS Broadcasting Center, talking about one of the many gadgets in Doraemon's pocket and demonstrating it in a comedic manner. Multiple versions of the short exist (with at least 138 unique shorts confirmed to have aired at least once), each one showcasing a different gadget, and with a different short airing each morning at sign-on. Despite being retired on a sign-on level, the shorts remain in use as signposts/special idents for Doraemon on ABS.

December 2016 saw yet another series of shorts being used as part of the network's presentation. This series shows the stars, characters and staff of ABS Television (both live-action and animated) providing an over-the-top, mockumentary-style, tongue-in-cheek look inside their offices and operations in a manner similar to ESPN's "This Is SportsCenter" shorts. The shorts run in a manner similar to European-style "idents" positioned prior to programs, with special sign-on and sign-off shorts running at the beginning and end of the broadcast day. No working title has been given to this series of shorts by ABS as of currently, but the shorts can be viewed in full on ABS' website.

"Stand By Me, Stand By Us" campaign
On July 1, 2014, ABS announced that it was starting a large-scale advertising campaign for the "Stand By Me Doraemon" film, using the network as the main subject of promotion. A special slogan (Stand By Me, Stand By Us) was put into use (overriding the "Never Looking Back" slogan normally in use) for two months as part of the promotion, and a number of special idents were seen as well.

The promotion ended on the 1st of September, 2014, when ABS dropped the special idents and features.

Off-air filler content
Unlike most other Dahrconian TV stations, ABS never ceases service at the end of the day. Instead of cutting straight to a test card (like most other stations in the country), ABS uses "enhanced" test cards; multiscreen setups that provide information (such as news, weather, promos for upcoming shows, community service announcements, etc.) to viewers who tune in whilst the station is off-the-air.

A regular test card is only used when ABS programming is terminated due to a technical issue.

ABS Anywhere
Main article: ABS Anywhere

Programs
ABS has aired many different programs over the years.

See the list of programming aired by ABS for a list of current ABS programs.

Day of Anpanman
The "Day of Anpanman" occurred on the 19th of May in 2013 and 2014, was revived on the 20th of November 2015 and was ended outright in 2016. On this day, the Aso Broadcasting System and its affiliates (local stations and ABS International) devote the majority of their programming schedule past 8:05 am to the ''Let's Go! Anpanman'' anime series and spin-off content.