Experts criticize the huge organization with accumulated financial assets of 900 billion yen and an average salary of 10．94 million yen， saying， “NHK produces too many programs” and “The reception fee can be lowered．”
“Financial assets of 894 billion yen” NHK, which has made online distribution of broadcast programs a “mandatory business,” is preparing to start the service in the second half of next fiscal year. Recently, it was announced that the internet reception fee would be set at 1,100 yen per month, the same amount as a terrestrial contract, but there has been some surprising “money-making” going on within the station itself… NHK’s reception fee revenue has been declining since peaking at 712.2 billion yen in fiscal 2018. In fiscal 2011, sales were 632.8 billion yen, down 39.6 billion yen from the previous year, the largest ever, due in part to a 10% price reduction from October, but the company says its management is on solid ground. “When you look at NHK’s balance sheet, it’s easy to mistake it for a fund that makes its living from asset management,” says financial journalist Ayumi Ito, who analyzes NHK’s finances. “Consolidated total assets for the fiscal year ending March 2024 were 1.4495 trillion yen. In the fiscal year ending March 2009, when NHK began disclosing the association’s overall financial statements, the figure was 931.3 billion yen, so this works out to an increase of approximately 500 billion yen over 15 years. What is particularly noteworthy is the large amount of financial assets, including both cash and securities. Fifteen years ago, it was 406.1 billion yen, but this has now more than doubled to 894 billion yen. This accounts for 61% of total assets. Even among listed companies, it is rare to see a company that has accumulated this much financial assets.” (ibid.) “The ideal situation would be for income and necessary expenses to break even.” If it were a private company, this figure would be enough to raise an uproar among activists (shareholder activists), he said, and “the most recent consolidated internal reserves, including subsidiaries, are 511.3 billion yen, 1.4 times what they were six years ago.” (ibid.) He went on to criticize: “NHK’s role is not to hoard profits. For a public broadcaster, the ideal situation would be for revenue and necessary expenses to roughly break even. If they have this much financial wealth to spare, shouldn’t they give it back to the public by lowering the reception fee?” (ibid.) “Room to lower reception fee” According to financial statements, the average salary of employees is calculated to be about 10.94 million yen per year, “Leaving aside the question of whether this amount is appropriate for the salary of employees of a public broadcasting company, I don’t think there is any need for NHK to produce this many programs in the first place. Like private broadcasters, they mass-produce variety shows and dramas, which means staff salaries are increasing. While commercial broadcasters’ programs are subject to taxation as profit-making businesses, all of NHK’s programs are considered public service businesses and are therefore tax-exempt. Considering this point, I don’t see any need for public broadcasters to produce programs across a wide range of areas. If they cut back on production, they can drastically cut staff and expenses, freeing up financial assets and creating room to lower reception fees.” (ibid.) The October 10 issue of “Weekly Shincho” features a four-page detailed report on the issue, including the problem of the decline in news program production costs despite it being a public broadcaster, and the disregard for disaster reporting.
>>1 Let AI read the news. Even now, half of the news programs are not broadcast by humans but by AI. This way, there are no labor costs, political ideology is okay, and there is no misreading. Rather than paying high salaries to hire human announcers, it would be better to have AI read the news. Although we still need a few human announcers on standby for emergency broadcasts.
>>1 There’s no need for dramas, variety shows, sports or any other entertainment. I don’t understand why they are using public money to put a strain on private businesses. The entertainment division should be separated and sold off to private companies, and only news, educational programs, and the bare minimum of information programs should be included. This way, the reception fee, including satellite, will be around 300 yen per month.
They charge high reception fees, broadcast to the world that “Senkaku is Chinese territory,” and fill the Red and White Song Battle with unknown Korean idols.
Japanese companies love to make internal reserves, so it’s easy for the higher-ups to take credit, and this is the reason for the decline of Japanese companies, and it’s full of idiots who were happy with shitonomics.
They call themselves a public broadcaster, but they’re the most self-righteous organization out there lol. They just think it’s okay as long as they make money.
Dismantled Chinese spy for 22 years Falsified comfort women, illegally employed daughter of General Association of Korean Residents in Japan executive and produced anti-Japanese programs A foreigner who doesn’t understand has infiltrated NHK as a producer Isn’t he an idiot? He was forcing anti-Japanese programs to be produced with reception fees The chairman should be fired Illegal.
>>19 NHK’s annual budget is 650 billion yen. Even if they cut MLB broadcasts, the broadcasting rights fees for the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics will go up and they’ll use up all their budget. Plus, the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics only have games for one month every four years lol.
They call themselves public broadcasters, but they’re making huge profits by using programs made with reception fees as a cover for corporations, and then they go to work for those companies and take high salaries.
>>26 The producer here once boasted that he had been invited to the LDP’s New Year’s rice cake throwing party. I guess the “mochi” part is some kind of slang word.
>>34 Even though the taiga drama was that good, it would be better to abolish it if we consider the preservation of video production techniques. The push for baseball and golf is more wasteful than crap. The coverage is better off not airing it if it’s just government PR by the political department.
In the past, they probably had to offer a wide variety of genres for places where commercial channels weren’t available, but now we have BS and the internet. I’d like them to have a news channel, but they say that would put pressure on private businesses.
>>54 The producer mentioned in >>46 was watching an interview about the annual salary of a professional golfer and said, “Wow, that’s less than mine!” to the shock of the staff.
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