Voices
in
Japan

quote of the day

People today, particularly young people, are not watching TV. I myself haven't owned a TV for 20 years. I've been hearing about a push to get fees from the internet streaming viewers.

29 Comments

Kimi Onoda , a junior member of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, calling for public broadcaster NHK to introduce a scrambling system, under which only people who want to watch NHK programs pay subscription fees for conditional access, and that NHK should not charge for programs on the internet.

© Mainichi Shimbun

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

29 Comments
Login to comment

TV is dead. We haven't had a TV for about 20 years either. You get so much more done without it!

9 ( +12 / -3 )

Scrambling to find a way to tax us more. Sure a breath tax is being thought about.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Japanese TV is a waste of time.

20 ( +22 / -2 )

TV for me is Netflix, Youtube and a collection of Fire TV apps, although all are played through a large TV set. NHK is going to have to find itself a role in this brave new world if it is to be relevant. It should look to BBC as a model.

12 ( +15 / -3 )

Buy a big screen, get a satellite dish. Pick your channels. Then, it's not really TV. It's true choice of that kind of 'entertainment'. But there are a lot of 'entertainment' choices in the world, many of which have nothing to do with what is called 'media'.

Ever walk in the woods?

5 ( +8 / -3 )

Even before I lived in Japan I did not watch Television. My wife and I mainly read books, study various subjects on Metaphysics, work on our projects, and enjoy time with our children. Occasionally we go out to a movie or watch a movie on the internet about once a month on a web site we pay for if we are not busy. There is no need for television.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

It’s soon the end of year tv show with teams of amazing artists battling it out to out bore the viewers. They don’t know that the sound is down or YouTube is on. But NHK are such a great business model they are clinging to forcing people to pay for a service nobody wants. Come to my door (I just for fun) tell them I don’t have to pay Yaks to either watch tv or use my phone. Then point out a drinking bar they could squeeze a envelope from.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

I haven't owned a TV in 60 years.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

I have a TV but it's solely used to stream Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime etc. and to play games. Actual TV channels? Can't even remember the last time I watched it. As for NHK contemplating charging us for internet shows, I say go eat dirt.

10 ( +12 / -2 )

@Trevor Peace

Satellite dish?

It’s not 1998 mate.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

NHK and all other japanese TV channels are wasting of time.

watching japanese TV channels is boring.quizes with someone called tarento,frenzy laughing from background.all time same faces.mixed with loads of ads.

one minute so called "news" you get no info from.

NHK news itself just mix of mainstream one sided unbalanced propaganda without opposition voices you can get at CNN or any other "global TV news channel" with twist of antirussian,antichinese,antikrean and anti DPRK propaganda.Definitely not worth to pay for it as its its just another white day robbery.

not educational at all.not enriching at all.just keeping people mind narrowed and "directed" to "right direction" without any critical thinking.

yes dumb people are easy to control.

as for me i prefer to watch some quality documentary at netflix,amazon prime or check some interesting movie at youtube.i dont need any japanese tv rubbish or ads.not interested to see tarento or yumejin-i dont care about them at all.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Without Japanese Tv I wouldn’t know how delicious curry rice is in another prefecture. Or how special Raman is. People should realise without NHKs guidance we would be still eating foods from 1822. Then what? Tallento just wandering the streets, they need support otherwise you would have to work with them. Rather see them on A tv I can turn off then next to me at the office.

9 ( +9 / -0 )

I am convinced Japanese tv feature celebrities almost exclusively, even on quiz shows, because they are terrified of letting the general public on. That's the generally mild-mannered Japanese public as well.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

That’s going to happen with, or without NHK, @Reckless 12:37pm.

Maybe not 15 but 12% is next on the near horizon. - (Greedy &^7’s!)

@Reckless 12:37pm: “Just raise the sales tax to 15% and give the extra revenue to NHK.” -

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I haven't owned a TV in 60 years.

so you owned one in the 1950’s ?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

large screen entertainment is not dead. still enjoy watching it in fine details and superior sound in a proper environment.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

"LDTMToday  12:35 pm JST

I wish I could get rid of our TV, but Mrs. LDTM loves her soap operas too much. Each to their own I guess."

Mrs. LDTM is still so human. Lovely.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

I was surprised to see that the the politician who said the above was a member of the LDP.

I bet Abe et al won't be oleased with her comments.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Have Netflix in the house, but I never watch it.

The only thing I watch on TV is AFL.

My laptop on the other hand, you may never take away from me!!!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

It's more complex than this suggests.

In the UK, the BBC had one of the world's best back catalogues to keep people amused during lockdowns, but hardly used it. Classic 80s sitcoms and some of the best adaptations of classic novels don't have enough black/disabled/gay characters to meet woke criteria, and Jane Austen's characters may not be in tune with progressive 21st century views. They conducted their own Maoist purge and shuffled all of this great content on to a streaming access. Unable to make much TV they have broadcast rolling news for hours, all bad, mostly about Covid. They may as well have been promoting suicide, so it's good that people can switch to other channels - Pick (currently screening 'Fringe'), Quest (EFL), Drama (80s drama). The BBC's new woke drama feels like propaganda and woke compliant comedy - a bit of a minefield - is usually dull. The BBC challenged the government during the Falklands War but have been compliant during Covid, hence 'Boris's Broadcasting Corporation'. They seem to be suffering the same fate as Hong Kong TV is at the hands of the CCP, but from both the culture wars and government demands. If it hadn't been for the Olympics and the football, I'd have hardly watched the BBC during lockdowns.

Traditional broadcasters cannot compete with the VC-funded streaming companies, and seem to have lost the right to show most movies to them. Amazon used the same tactic to hammer bookshops.

Kids grow up with devices in their hands and the attention span of goldfish, so a preference for online content is an inevitability. YouTube has a lot of good stuff on it. Music videos to explore. Hobby stuff. People reporting on their lives and their own countries. Travel material (probably now classed under 'fantasy'), epic fails and useful stuff telling you how to toast buns and conduct DIY brain surgery. There is a lot of it, and I spend hours on there despite not being young.

Encryption is never a good thing. In an emergency, people need to access NHK and not be blocked from it. There are ways forward for national broadcasters, but they need to be cut some slack by governments and they need to develop, rather than chase an audience that is really not into them by pandering to a small group of shouty activists. Public service TV is important, but it is struggling.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

There is loads on iPlayer. I’ve just finished watching every episode of One Foot in the Grave.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites