The Japanese Market for UK Films - BFI

1-9 TV, DVD, VOD and Other Media
(1) Television – An Overview
Japan is probably one of the most complicated TV markets, with numerous
platforms and outlets including terrestrial broadcast, satellite TV which consists
of Broadcasting Satellite (BS) and Communication Satellite (CS) and cable TV.
In terms of audience share, terrestrial TV has the greatest share, followed by BS.
CS and cable are relatively less competitive, but cable and satellite platforms
compete with each other.
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The structure of Japan’s broadcasting system is as follows:
• Terrestrial TV; One public broadcasting system (NHK) whose income
derives from a license fee and 5 commercial networks. Commercial
networks developed from the 1950s’
• Satellite broadcasting. BS and CS use technically the same satellites, but
are different from each other in an institutional sense. BS was developed
by NHK to create a universal broadcasting service in Japan and is now
used by the major terrestrial commercial networks and WOWOW (Pay TV
service). CS was developed to promote business diversification of
telecommunication services in an era of convergence of telecoms and
broadcasting. The system is similar to BskyB and this broadcasting
service is dominated by one player, SkyperfecTV.
• Cable TV; low diffusion ratio, but gradually increasing.
Digital terrestrial broadcasting is being promoted by the Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications. The current analogue broadcasting will be
terminated on July 24, 2011.
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