NHK commenced international TV broadcasting services for North America and Europe in 1995. On April 1, 1998, NHK World Television started broadcasting. NHK World Television is a news and information channel that broadcasts internationally via satellite and cable TV. Programming is broadcast in English. It began as a news channel in February 2009. Some of the shows are produced by production studio JIB TV which is 60% owned by NHK with the remaining 40% owned by private investors like Microsoft and Japanese bank Mizuho.