Tokyo, September 15, 2025 — NHK is happy to announce that NHK’s “Deep Ocean: Kingdom of the Coelacanth” was selected as the winner of the Content Creation category at the IBC Innovation Awards 2025. The program was filmed using 8K HDR and 22.2 multichannel surround sound. It is a co-production between NHK, ZDF/ARTE, OceanX and also technically supported by GOTO Aquatics, SGO, Restar.
The IBC Innovation Awards recognizes the best in collaborative efforts to develop new solutions to real-world technical challenges and to address social and environmental issues. NHK’s coelacanth program was nominated as one of the three finalists of the Content Creation category and the announcement of the win was made at the awards ceremony which took place at RAI Amsterdam on September 14, 2025.
Deep Ocean: Kingdom of the Coelacanth
(1 x 52 min., 2024-2025, Produced by NHK in co-production with ZDF/ARTE, OceanX)
The team that first filmed the giant squid in its natural habitat reassembles! The new adventure aims at capturing a living fossil, the coelacanth. With Dr. Masamitsu Iwata and Dr. Kelly Sink aboard OceanX’s cutting-edge research vessel, the Deep Ocean team goes on a mission off the coast of Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. Measuring nearly two meters, the coelacanth has lived unchanged for 400 million years. Rarely found, these nocturnal deep-sea fish are shrouded in mystery. Utilizing multiple submersibles, the team is not only successful in filming coelacanths in their natural habitat, but they successfully pull off a world-first, 72-hour continuous filming in the deep sea. And what the crew filmed of the elusive fish may help experts understand how life left the ocean to live on land.
This achievement was enabled by the development of innovative equipment and the use of spherically transparent submersibles, which provided a 340-degree panoramic view of the deep sea. Given the coelacanth’s low metabolic rate and extreme sensitivity to disturbance, the team designed two specialized 8K deep-sea camera systems. These systems allowed for extended filming durations with ultra-high sensitivity and ultra-high resolution, making it possible to document the elusive species in unprecedented detail.
On behalf of the production team, Yoshitaka Shiraishi, the Head of NHK’s Content Technology Center, commented: “The ultra-high-sensitivity, ultra-high-resolution 8K deep-sea camera and the 8K/22.2ch workflow were made possible through the combination of the knowledge of our valued technology partners and the technical expertise NHK has cultivated over many years. We are honored that this achievement has been recognized not only within the broadcasting industry but also by coelacanth researchers both in Japan and abroad. We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everyone involved. Moving forward, we will continue to pursue the development of cutting-edge technologies and strive to deliver new and inspiring experiences to our audience.”
About NHK
NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) is Japan’s sole public service media organization. Funded by receiving fees from Japanese households, it has a reputation for impartial, high-quality programs including news, documentaries, children’s and educational programs, music, entertainment, culture, animation, and drama. Known as the pioneer of HD broadcast, NHK now actively produces programs in 4K and 8K.
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For further information, please contact
Fumina Koike (koike.f-ge@nhk.or.jp)
International Media Relations
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