Shigeo Fukuchi

July 6, 2009 World Screen

April 2009

With almost all of its funding derived from a license fee, the Japanese public broadcaster NHK is counting on the support of its audiences as it faces the challenges ahead. For Shigeo Fukuchi, who assumed the post of president of NHK at the start of 2008, rebuilding the trust of viewers following a string of scandals that plagued the broadcaster prior to his arrival has been of utmost importance. In this extensive interview with TV Asia Pacific, Fukuchi weighs in on the need to continue serving the public interest with high-quality, relevant programming, while embracing new platforms in this tech-savvy country.
 
TV ASIA PACIFIC: When taking on your role at the beginning of last year, you said that restoring viewer trust was a top priority. How have you achieved this?
FUKUCHI: In the first half of fiscal year 2008, NHK General TV’s prime-time programming [schedule] surpassed the commercial networks to become number one in the TV-viewing-audience share. We are also seeing a rebound in receiving fee [license-fee] payments. These facts suggest that on both the broadcasting and the management fronts, we are steadily winning back the trust of viewers. I regret, however, that I cannot say that misconduct on the part of NHK personnel has been completely rooted out. There is still more work to be done in that area. We will continue striving to win back the trust of the public by holding to this principle: “It’s all about the viewing public.”
 
TV ASIA PACIFIC: What are the challenges you face in terms of the financing of NHK? Do you rely solely on the license fee?
FUKUCHI: There are no pressing issues on the fiscal side. NHK’s funding comes almost entirely from the receiving fees paid equally by all viewers. In addition, a very small portion comes from government subsidies, for purposes such as improving the reception environment, and from business income. Currently the rate of compliance with payment of receiving fees is 72 percent. We are working to raise that to 78 percent within five years.
 
TV ASIA PACIFIC: How are you coping with the challenges of investing in high-quality programs today as a public broadcaster?
FUKUCHI: It is important to economize on any unnecessary expenses, but we have no intention of cutting costs when it comes to news coverage and production of quality programming. Many viewers want more higher-quality programs. Because a single TV network faces constraints on budget and production capacity in making major series, international joint production involving multiple broadcasters is one important approach. For instance, the upcoming major series Weird Edens, which we will co-produce with NHNZ, France 5, Science Channel and Animal Planet, is a good example of joining forces in terms of cost and production skills. We would not be able to make a six-part series on our own. Moving forward, we want to account for the demands of overseas markets and international perspectives right from the program-development stage, with our goal being to make programs that will be more appealing to the global market.
 
TV ASIA PACIFIC: How important are news, current affairs and documentaries to the NHK schedule?
FUKUCHI: On NHK General TV, news coverage occupies 45 percent of broadcast time. That’s the largest share of any programming category. We are strengthening our reportage operations, including news, current affairs and documentaries, to reliably deliver accurate information to the public. That is the lifeblood of a public broadcaster, and its importance is not going to change.
TV ASIA PACIFIC: How can you serve the public interest with other genres, like drama, kids’ programming or entertainment shows?
FUKUCHI: NHK’s mission is to provide a valuable source of information to the whole viewing public, along with cultural programming that enriches people’s lives. Travel, nature, culture and the arts, entertainment…we broadcast a vast variety of programs in a wide range of fields. Each year, NHK receives 6.6 million pieces of feedback from viewers expressing their opinions and wishes. In addition, we have a lot of input from the program monitors and the Consultative Committees on Programs, which is established by law. We are constantly striving to reflect that feedback from our viewers and respond to their needs as we produce programming in the studio.
 
TV ASIA PACIFIC: How is NHK participating in the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting, and what are the major challenges and opportunities here?
FUKUCHI: The transition to terrestrial digital broadcasting is a matter of national policy in Japan. As a public broadcaster,
I believe that NHK has a great responsibility to help the viewing public avoid confusion in the transition to digital. In anticipation of the complete switchover to terrestrial digital broadcasting in July 2011, we are upgrading our relay transmitters for digital, renovating community reception facilities, and offering expert advice through our Reception Consultation Center, among other initiatives. On the broadcasting side, things are progressing according to schedule.
We are hoping to see further progress in the adoption of
digital TV receiving hardware by the viewing public.
 
TV ASIA PACIFIC: How have you extended the NHK brand to digital platforms, and what are your main priorities for your new-media businesses?
FUKUCHI: Last October, we announced a three-year corporate plan covering the period from April 2009 onward. It incorporates our aim to connect the public with NHK through “three screens”: TV, PCs and mobile phones.
Last December, we set up an on-demand service that allows, for a fee, access via the Net to previously broadcast programs. This February, we launched a mobile news site that sends news reports to mobile phones. In this era of digital convergence between various media, NHK as a public broadcaster has a vital obligation to craft an environment that allows our news and programming to be viewed on mobile phones, PCs and other devices.
 
TV ASIA PACIFIC: You’ve recently re­launched your inter-national channel. Can you tell me more about your plans for NHK World TV?
FUKUCHI: The re­launched NHK World began on February 2, including a greatly beefed-up news component, with live English-language news every hour on the hour, 24 hours a day.
In addition, we have a programming lineup that shows many faces of Japan to the world: fashion, food, music, anime and more. This is to establish the NHK brand as “Your Eye on Asia.” And on NHK World’s website, we are offering an online streaming service of the broadcast for the enjoyment of the public. Globally there are 80 million households, in Europe, Asia, Africa and beyond, that can receive NHK’s international broadcasts on their TVs. Within five years we hope to boost that to 150 million potential viewing households.
Now that the world is globalized, political, economic and social issues in each country are linked and affect each other. However, it seems that for many foreigners, Japan is some kind of invisible nation. NHK World’s aim will be to let the world know what Japan thinks, and why—what thought process is involved. If we can share Japan’s way of thinking and thoughts with the world, that will represent a big step towards actually putting Japanese ideas and proposals into practice on the global stage.
 
TV ASIA PACIFIC: I know co-productions have been very important for your documentary output. What do you think NHK brings to the international production community?
FUKUCHI: We offer novel footage captured with our state-of-the-art specialized high-definition filming gear, the product of long-term technical development projects, and cutting-edge CGI. For example, we developed an HD camera to go aboard a space probe that is orbiting the Moon and sending back footage to Earth at this very moment.
NHK has a long track record in science and nature programming on major topics such as the Earth, space, the human body, anthropology, and on human civilization.

TV ASIA PACIFIC: You recently expanded your content collaboration deal with the National Film Board of
Canada. Are you looking to develop similar alliances with other countries?
FUKUCHI: We have had a cooperative tie-up with NFB since 2003, since we both have long experience in collaborative productions, share similar values since we are both public organizations, and possess an eagerness to take on new challenges.
Also, we’ve had an agreement with Discovery Canada since 2006, cooperating on programs in the science category in order to carry out even more ambitious programming.
Prior to NFB, in 2002, we reached an agreement with France 5 to co-produce major programs for three years.
In the future, we will enter into cooperative agreements with other countries’ broadcasters as well, for the sake of high-quality program development, wherever we can find partners who understand the position and needs of NHK as a public broadcaster, and come to a mutually beneficial arrangement.
 
TV ASIA PACIFIC: You joined NHK from outside the TV industry. How was the adjustment for you?
FUKUCHI: The past year has been an eventful one for both NHK and the broadcasting industry as a whole. It feels like it went by in a flash. Now I’m settled in and I feel like I’ve been here for ages.
From the management perspective, in my previous work in the corporate sector, my work was driven by a “customer satisfaction” philosophy. At NHK that has been transformed into a philosophy of, “It’s all about the viewing public.” So there isn’t really any kind of disconnect in terms of philosophy. NHK needs to be an organization that viewers value, and to broadcast programming that matters to them. In that sense, NHK resembles a private-sector corporation.
 
TV ASIA PACIFIC: What are your priorities for NHK in the next 12 to 18 months?
FUKUCHI: Earlier, I touched on the three-year corporate plan. It sets forth the following objectives for all NHK staff: raising NHK’s “contact ratio” (the percentage of the Japanese viewing public that spends at least five minutes per week with NHK) to 80 percent within three years; and increasing the receiving-fee payment-compliance ratio to 75 percent within three years and to 78 percent within five years. In addition, the switchover to terrestrial digital broadcasting is looming, just two and a half years from now. To achieve these objectives, all of NHK’s people must be united and giving their best.
 
 
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TV ASIA PACIFIC: What do you enjoy most about serving as the head of NHK?

FUKUCHI: What has pleased me is seeing NHK’s programming receive praise. Not just polite praise, but serious praise, those occasions when people have said, “This is absolutely fantastic.” Over the past year, we have won a number of awards within Japan and internationally, which I really enjoyed. In relation to that, during the first half of fiscal year 2008, NHK topped the prime-time TV ratings for the first time. I see that as proof that we are creating the quality programming that our viewers want. My intention is for us to continue making great programs, because that will attract large audiences.