They are firming their presence in the land of the rising sun. Singapore-hqed CNBC Asia Pacific and GE Equity - the private equity arm of the General Electric Company - today announced that they were pumping in $15 million in Japanese broadcasting major TV Tokyo and picking up three per cent of its total outstanding equity.

This marks the first time that an American television network has made an investment in a major Japanese broadcasting company and places the duo as its seventh largest shareholder. As a result of the transaction, CNBC Asia Pacific will become the provider of choice for business news to TV Tokyo - one of the five principal TV networks in Japan -- and its affiliates. Currently, approximately 10% of TV Tokyo's programming is focused on news and business. TV Tokyo plans to enhance further its business news offerings, bolstering its coverage of markets around the world. The two companies will continue to explore further areas of potential collaboration.

TV Tokyo covers 67% of national households through five network local stations in the major cities. Its programming includes original entertainment, news (with an emphasis on financial reporting) and animated series including Pokemon and Duel Monsters.

Concurrently, TV Tokyo will invest in Nikkei-CNBC, CNBC Asia Pacific's Japanese language television business news network. TV Tokyo will take a 14% stake in Nikkei-CNBC. CNBC Asia Pacific and Nikkei, together with Jupiter Programming, have been partners in Japan since 1999. Nikkei-CNBC currently reaches over 4.2 million homes in Japan, offering 18 hours of Japanese language business news daily, including Tokyo Squawk Box, Market Watch and Tokyo Power Lunch.

"This investment is a major building block in CNBC's global strategy. Over the past several years, CNBC has become the major means by which investors can get business news information on any company in the world - as soon that news happens." said Bill Bolster, NBC's Chairman of CNBC's international operations. "It's no longer enough to know what's happening in the markets where you live - you have to know what's happening in markets all around the world. CNBC can give investors that information. Our investment in TV Tokyo is cementing our position as the number one provider of television business news on a global basis."

"This investment underscores our commitment to quality global business news coverage in Japan and around the world," added Karen House, President, Dow Jones International. "CNBC Asia Pacific is Asia's premier business and financial information network - drawing on the vast resources of CNBC and the Dow Jones Asia network. This partnership with TV Tokyo further strengthens the brand and our ability to reach critical audiences in Asia."

Alexander Brown, President and CEO of CNBC Asia Pacific, said, "We welcome TV Tokyo's participation in Nikkei-CNBC as part of the broadening of CNBC's commitments to the Japan market. It is our belief that these investments will most importantly benefit Japanese viewers through the delivery of better business and financial news programming.

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