Q&A: How will Japanese public broadcaster NHK’s new streaming service affect viewers?

As more young people turn away from traditional TV, Japan’s parliament passed a revised broadcasting law in May that requires public broadcaster NHK to offer streaming of its programs over the internet. The new service will launch in October 2025, in what NHK president Nobuo Inaba called a “historic turning point” for the broadcaster, which has focused primarily on TV. The Mainichi Shimbun examines what changes will happen, what services will be provided and what potential challenges will arise.

Application User Fees

Question: We can already watch NHK programmes online through services such as NHK Plus, so what will change?

Answer: Until now, NHK’s online content was classified as an “optional service” under the Broadcasting Act, intended to supplement television broadcasting. NHK Plus allowed viewers to stream programs such as historical dramas, morning dramas and news programs from NHK’s general and educational channels in real time or watch them on demand for up to a week after broadcast. However, the service was only available to those who owned a TV and paid a license fee, and those without a TV could not access it.

Under the revised law, NHK’s online streaming will now be classified as a “must-see” service on par with broadcast television. Essentially, all broadcast programs will be streamed, and those without a TV will be able to access them by paying a fee to watch. NHK plans to announce full details of the service in the fall, but said simultaneous and on-demand streaming will be offered in a format similar to NHK Plus. Streamed content will mirror broadcast programming, so there will be no programs available exclusively online. The on-demand streaming window will remain the same — a week after broadcast.

Q: Will I be charged just for having a smartphone or computer?

A: Simply having a smartphone or computer doesn’t mean you have to pay a viewing fee. However, if you download an app to watch and register with an ID, you’ll likely be subject to a fee. If you already own a TV and pay a license fee, there will be no additional charges for internet service. NHK is considering setting the cost for internet-only viewers at 1,100 yen per month (about $7.80) as a terrestrial TV license fee, partly because copyright and expense concerns may initially prevent NHK from streaming satellite programming.

Q: Will there be any changes to existing services?

A: NHK will stop providing free text messages outside of broadcasts, such as websites on politics and economics. The broadcaster stopped updating these services in March. Instead, a new category called “program-related information” will be introduced as part of the revised law, becoming a mandatory offering.

The previous service was criticized by newspaper publishers who felt it expanded NHK’s operations in a way that unfairly competed with stories produced by private media companies. In response, the new service will be limited to information strictly related to NHK programs. NHK is considering providing program-related information in areas such as news, education, medicine, health care, and social welfare, while emergency information during disasters and major incidents will continue to be available free to all.

Q: I heard that NHK wants to make internet streaming a mandatory service. Is that true?

A: Yes, that’s true. As fewer and fewer people own TVs every year, NHK is increasingly concerned about the future of broadcasting. The move to make internet streaming a mandatory service is in line with NHK’s long-standing goal of evolving from a “public broadcaster” to a “public media channel” that includes the internet.

Competing with private broadcasters and newspapers

Q: What challenges will NHK face in the future?

A: Both the Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association and the Japan Newspaper Publishers & Editors Association have expressed concerns about NHK’s online expansion, given that it is funded by significant license fees. Commercial broadcasters, which rely on advertising revenue, and newspapers, which rely on subscription fees, fear that NHK’s large-scale online presence could distort fair competition and undermine plural media, such as the dual broadcasting model in which a public broadcaster coexists with its commercial rivals. NHK has set up committees to address these concerns, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will also set up a committee to monitor fair competition.

The revised law also requires NHK to offer a free trial to those who don’t already pay fees to promote its streaming service. Because this could create a “freeloader” problem, where some use the service for free while others pay, NHK is considering displaying prompts to encourage people to sign up and potentially lowering the video quality for users who use the service for free.

Q: Covering the cost of Internet services and user demand are also issues, right?

A: As internet service becomes mandatory, NHK plans to lift the previous annual cap of 20 billion yen (about $142.7 million) on internet-related costs. NHK has said it does not intend to overstate these expenses, but because of concerns about expanding the service, the overall cost of running it will be closely watched. It is also unclear how many people will subscribe to the internet service, which is tied to the TV subscription fee, making future demand uncertain.

Q: What role will NHK play in the Internet age?

A: NHK President Inaba noted that disinformation and misinformation tend to spread quickly on the Internet. He emphasized that NHK’s goal is to provide a “trustworthy reference point” for accurate and reliable information in the digital space, with the goal of “correcting the imbalance of information on the Internet and helping to promote a correct worldview.” Observers will be closely watching whether NHK can fulfill this role.

(Japanese original by Misaki Morokuma, Cultural News Department)