A wide range of HDTV facilities, from production equipment to transmission equipment, has been developed and installed to conduct daily eight-hour HDTV broadcasting. The production equipment is designed to meet the SMPTE 240M standard, and is also designed to make the daily operation as easy as possible. The production equipment is used for simultaneous program production in both HDTV and NTSC. The transmission equipment is designed to make an easy interface with existing earth stations and broadcasting satellites while providing stable operations. The scale of HDTV facilities installed in the NHK Broadcasting Center is large enough to support daily HDTV broadcasting. NHK is extending its broadcasting hours using the new broadcast satellite, BS-3, launched in August 1991.