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Britain's Classic FM gave TBS Radio the model: a contemporary classical station for listeners who would never call themselves concertgoers. Tokyo got its version on 1 April 2007, carried on terrestrial digital radio alongside the web until that experiment wound down in 2011. TBS Holdings announced the station would close in June 2014, then reversed itself a week before the date — Naxos Japan, which had been supplying the recordings, took over the trademark, the domain and the whole operation.

Daytime is live and conversational: OTTAVA Fresca through the morning, OTTAVA Andante across the afternoon, presenters like pianist Seiji Honda and critic Naoki Hayashida reading listener mail and taking requests. Evenings hand an hour each to working soloists — pianist Kotaro Fukuma, cellist Yuki Ito, marimba player Makoto Nakura. Overnight, OTTAVA marrone runs unhosted.