Where is NHK Heading?

■ Where is NHK Heading?

We spoke at the "Where is NHK Heading?" forum. 

This involved a discussion centered around NHK's management plan.

Japanese TV is weakening. It is 15 years behind in its digital compatibility, a classic case of digital defeat. 

The internet is dominated not only by Big Tech like Netflix and Disney, but also by Chinese companies like Tencent. 

While BBC operates 10 domestic TV channels and 3 international channels, and China's CCTV has 20 channels plus 5 in foreign languages, how does NHK fare? 

We need to consider how NHK catch onto both digital trends and global outreach.

Discussing a dual system for uniformly excellent domestic programming makes it seem like we are debating the merits of the Meiji era's feudal system of the shogunate and domains. 

NHK's budget of 700 billion yen should not be considered just within the 4 trillion yen broadcasting framework, but within Japan's 70 trillion yen information market.

Currently, there is no clear vision or outlook for what NHK should be or where it should end up. 

Thus, discussions tend to focus on minor issues like whether to reduce the number of broadcast waves or slightly decrease fees. 

We need to think about how to position NHK within the broader digital media landscape, including the internet.

Does NHK want to be like the BBC or CCTV, or does it want to change from the H in NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai), where H means broadcast in Japanese, into something like the Japan Media Association or Japan Digital Association? 

These are discussions worth having. 

I have scribbled down a rough reform proposal. 

NHK Media Holdings can be divided into three sectors: hardware, software, and a lab. 

Hardware, software, and contents should be managed as intellectual property for all programs, which would then be distributed by the hardware network. 

Everything would be managed in the cloud, including data collection.

Broadcasting can be done using just a few channels, while the internet should stream news, education, drama, and other content on dozens of channels. This will be similar to China’s CCTV, where specialized channels can be internationally broadcasted. 

Core operations can be funded by the NHK’s standard license fee up to this point. 

This approach might even allow the usual license fee to be halved or allow for funding reallocation towards production costs.

Other network operations could include paid on-demand services and the metaverse.

NHK could build a metaverse where e-commerce and advertising strategies could be deployed.

The lab will be a technology and cultural research institute of great value. 

I would love to see it leverage its competitive edge by collaborating with corporations and universities.

Japan has traditionally maintained a unified broadcast model aligning hardware and software. 

The UK, including both BBC and commercial broadcasters, has moved towards a separation of hardware and software for all management to take place in the cloud. 

There are rumors that the BBC might end its broadcast signal output, and the discussions for abolishing its license fee system are dynamic.

The playing field has already changed. 

The convergence of communications and broadcasting has wrapped up. 

News that advertising revenues of six trillion yen and internet revenues of 2.7 trillion yen have surpassed the 2.5 trillion yen from four traditional media types illustrates a market that grew from zero to 2.7 trillion yen in 30 years. 

Although Japan failed to seize this market.

How we perceive what’s happening now will affect the strategies going forward. Is it an era of peace or wartime? Are we on a continuum or at a turning point? I see it as a turning point during times of war. 

The digital transformation during COVID-19 made us recognize this failure to seize the digital market, but it's unclear what will happen with television broadcasting. 

In Ukraine, amidst fake news and cyber-attacks where digital platforms are the main battleground, what are broadcasters doing in response?

The question of what to do with NHK might best be approached by planning as if in hindsight and asking ourselves how we would design NHK if it did not exist.

Rather than criticizing NHK, I want discussion veered towards an expansion of the information space that includes NHK and broadcasting as a whole.