# Section 3

## Broadcasting Business

## 1 Broadcasters

There were 1,058 broadcasters (a decrease of 14 from the previous fiscal year) at the end of fiscal 2004. Broadcasting in Japan is provided by NHK, which runs on reception fees, and general broadcasters, which run on advertising revenues. In addition, the University of the Air provides broadcasting for an educational purpose.

Commercial broadcasters totaled 1,056 companies (a decrease of 14 from the previous fiscal year), of which 373 (an increase of 11 over the previous fiscal year) were terrestrial broadcasters, 131 (a decrease of three from the previous fiscal year) satellite broadcasters, and 548 (a decrease of 23 from the previous fiscal year) cable television broadcasters (cable television companies engaged in self-originating broadcasting using licensed facilities). In the cable television business, there has been an increase in the number of multiple system operators (MSOs), which operate multiple cable television stations in a wide area, and wide-range cooperation among local broadcasters in recent years, as measures toward promoting the digitization of broadcasting.

A system of broadcasting business using telecommunications services, such as communications satellites and optical fiber, was introduced in January 2002. By the end of fiscal 2004, 45 operators were registered to broadcast using satellite services, and 11 operators using wire telecommunications services.

Fiscal 2003 sales for broadcasters totaled 3.8247 trillion yen (a 2.4% increase over the previous fiscal year). Of this, NHK’s business income came to 669.3 billion yen (a 0.7% increase over the previous fiscal year), terrestrial commercial broadcasters saw sales of 2.5229 trillion yen (a 1.5% increase over the previous fiscal year), satellite commercial broadcasters saw sales of 299.5 billion yen (an 8.2% increase over the previous fiscal year), and cable television broadcasters saw sales of 333 billion yen (an 8.2% increase over the previous fiscal year). The total sales for broadcasters increased because the sales for terrestrial commercial broadcasters turned to an increase.

Among cable television broadcasters, 80.1% (a 3.0 point increase over the previous year) achieved a single-year profit, indicating that the financial conditions of cable television broadcasters are continuing to improve.

## 2 Broadcasting services

## (1) Overview

The broadcasting services in Japan can be roughly divided into terrestrial broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, and cable television services.

Terrestrial television services started in February 1953 with NHK, followed by the first commercial broadcaster, Nippon Television Network Corporation, in August of the same year. Full-scale color broadcasts were introduced in 1960 and are now the norm with wide penetration nationwide. Terrestrial digital broadcasts were inaugurated in the three major metropolitan regions of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka in December 2003.

Satellite broadcasting is seeing a further increase in the number of channels with the launch of CS (communications satellite) digital broadcasting in June 1996, BS (broadcasting satellite) digital broadcasting in December 2000, and $ 110^{\circ} $ E CS digital broadcasting in March 2002. Moreover, Japan’s first 2.6 GHz band satellite digital audio broadcasting for mobile reception was initiated in October 2004.

The cable television services were upgraded with the start of retransmission of BS digital broadcasting in December 2000, while the services have also been used for Internet access since October 1996.

## (1) Terrestrial broadcasting

As of the end of fiscal 2004, there were 127 commercial terrestrial broadcasting stations (analog broadcasting). Looking at the number of viewable channels of commercial terrestrial broadcasting (analog broadcasting) by prefecture, it was found that four channels or more are viewable in about 90% of households.

The community broadcasting system was institutionalized in January 1992, and the number of stations has been growing steadily, reaching 177 companies as of the end of fiscal 2004.

## (2) Satellite broadcasting

BS analog broadcasting was introduced in June 1989, followed by digital broadcasting in December 2000. In analog broadcasting, NHK (three channels) and WOWOW (one channel) are providing television broadcasts through the first launched BS-4 satellite (BSAT-1a and BSAT-1b [backup satellite]). In digital broadcasting, NHK and seven commercial broadcasters provide television broadcasts and nine commercial broadcasters (including those providing simultaneous broadcasts) provide VHF broadcasts, and eight broadcasters (those already mentioned) provide data broadcasts through the second launched BS-4 satellite (BSAT-2a). The number of subscribers at the end of fiscal 2004, for analog and