NHK and five commercial TV broadcasters in the Tokyo area said Monday they have picked the Sumida-Taito area in the capital as a leading candidate site for a new 600-meter Tokyo Tower.
The area -- two neighboring wards in eastern Tokyo -- was judged to be superior among the 15 areas in the metropolis proposed for the new tower, which will be the world's tallest and is planned for completion by 2011 as a radio and TV transmitter when the nation's terrestrial-based broadcasting will be completely switched to digital from analog.
However, the six broadcasters decided to keep the Saitama New Urban Center in the city of Saitama as a runnerup candidate site in the event of disasters hitting Tokyo, they said.
The broadcasters agreed in 2003 to promote the construction of a new tower in line with the government plan to switch from analog broadcasting to digital.