NHK’s New President: Public Broadcaster Should Meet Expectations for Worthy Programs

Editorial

16:09 JST, December 10, 2025

NHK faces a severe business environment, including a growing tendency for people not to watch television and a decline in subscription contracts. It is hoped that the broadcaster’s new president will resolve each issue and also reexamine the fundamental role a public broadcaster should play.

The NHK Board of Governors has decided to appoint its executive vice president, Tatsuhiko Inoue, who has headed NHK’s political news division and its programming department, among other posts, as the successor to President Nobuo Inaba, whose term expires in January.

NHK presidents had been appointed from outside the organization for six consecutive terms since 2008, including Inaba, who had been an executive director of the Bank of Japan. This marks the first appointment from within the organization in 18 years, since the era of Katsuji Ebisawa and Genichi Hashimoto.

NHK Board of Governors Chairman Nobuyuki Koga explained the reason for selecting the new president from within the organization, “I hoped to build a new structure with someone who is looking at NHK’s current situation properly.” To confront NHK’s difficult state of affairs, the board likely judged it essential for a new president to be well-versed in NHK’s operations.

Improving the financial balance is urgent. The fiscal 2024 settlement showed operating income was ¥612.5 billion, a decline of ¥40.6 billion from a year earlier. Although operating expenditures also declined, there was a deficit for the second consecutive year, with the shortfall covered by reserve funds.

This is seen as a significant impact of the 10% reduction in receiving fees implemented in 2023. Partly due to price increases and a growing tendency for people not to watch television, the decrease in subscription contracts continues unabated, and unpaid fees from subscribers are increasing as well.

If cutting program production costs is necessary to improve the balance sheet, one idea would be to boldly reduce the number of entertainment programs that are similar to those of commercial broadcasters.

NHK has a duty to deliver programs widely across the nation as a public broadcaster. Key needs are the swift spread of information in time of disasters and the provision of detailed local information. And isn’t it also the role of NHK to produce high-quality educational and other programs without excessive concern for ratings?

The internet is flooded with both false information and information of unknown veracity. There are high expectations that NHK will conduct accurate reporting based on fact-checking through sufficient news-gathering activities.

The revised Broadcasting Law took effect in October, making NHK’s online services an essential duty on par with broadcasting. The new online service “NHK ONE” also launched, which offers simultaneous terrestrial TV streaming and catch-up viewing.

This is an era when one smartphone is sufficient to enjoy a wide variety of programs via online streaming. The Broadcasting Law has been criticized as outdated because it states that owning a television creates an obligation to form a contract with NHK.

Because of this, if NHK were to expand its online operations without restraint, it could hinder fair competition with other media organizations and potentially suppress the private sector. NHK should strive for appropriate business operations.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 10, 2025)