The Japanese music arm of Sony Corp, Sony Music Entertainment is to establish a subsidiary to start digital broadcasting of music performances. The new organization will use one channel from a digital satellite broadcasting entity to be created through the merger of Japan Sky Broadcasting, of which News Corp is a major investor and Perfect TV, in April. The subsidiary, which has been called SME TV for the time being, is expected to start broadcasting in the summer, and the merger is expected to create Japan’s largest digital satellite broadcasting operation. The new subsidiary is expected to be capitalized at 4,000 yen, or $32.3m, and will be initially wholly owned by Sony Music, but it is likely that other Sony companies will invest in SME in the future. At the moment Sony owns stakes in both Perfect TV and BSkyB, but it has not yet been decided how many broadcasting channels the firm will offer. When it is up and running SME will broadcast music from international performers on all labels.
