Bleeding Cash, NHK to Collect “Internet Only” License Fee

NHK building in Nigata
The station reported a loss for the third year running. To help plug the hole, it says it plans to collect fees from residents without TVs.

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NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster, is in a bit of financial trouble. Which isn’t surprising, given that it’s a TV station and hardly anyone under the age of 50 watches TV anymore. Now, it says it wants to plug the hole by charging for a broadcasting license even if residents don’t own a television.

Until now, everyone in Japan who owns a TV with a broadcast tuner was required to pay the broadcasting license to keep the public service station on air. If the budget it just submitted to Japan’s Diet is approved, NHK will also start collecting “net only” fees from people who have an Internet-connected device.

NHK has considered collecting an Internet-only fee for years. A revision to the Broadcasting Law passed in May 2024 grants it permission to collect the new fee.

The Internet-only fee would be 1,100 yen (USD $7) a month, the same as the broadcast fee. NHK predicts the revision would add 100 million yen (USD $634,000) to its yearly budget.

That won’t quite be enough to fill the hole in the broadcaster’s budget, though. A few days before submitting this plan to the Diet, NHK announced that the difference between its income and expenses was a whopping 40 billion yen ($253M). It’s the third year in a row the broadcaster has been in the red.

The Japanese public wants better programming

NHK has what can best be called an uneven reputation in Japan. Outside of its beloved morning drama and yearly Kohaku singing competition, the station’s programming typically consists of variety shows and educational content that don’t appeal to Japan’s younger generation. This, combined with the switch from TV to Internet-based entertainment, has led to the company bleeding subscribers.

Additionally, the station’s door-to-door fee collectors in the past have engaged in obnoxious and sometimes aggressive behavior, making them hated among many in the country. It’s a key reason grifter/politician Tachibana Takashi has generated so much attention with his political party whose primary mission is “destroying” NHK. (He hasn’t succeeded, but he has managed to mock it ferociously.)

Few people seem happy that the broadcaster wants to collect even more money from the public – especially given that taxpayer dollars are already filling the current hole. Marketing researcher Hamada Shunya says, “The Japanese public wants a drastic restructuring of these fees and useful broadcasting generated from the income that NHK collects.”

Another commenter on Yahoo! News JP echoes that. “I pay the fee,” they write, “but all they air are variety shows with highly paid talent. I wish they’d use the money for more useful content. It feels unfair to pay for programming I don’t watch.”

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