January 2005
A year has past since the launch of digital terrestrial services in Japan. With 26 stations in 8 areas having started digital services, direct reception of digital terrestrial broadcasts is now available at 18 million households. 2.58 million shipments of digital receivers also suggest a satisfactory start of the service. Furthermore, an official roadmap with a list of stations and their schedule for digital services in each prefecture was released. It seems the digital broadcasting has entered the new phase to accelerate the dissemination.
However, much remains to be done when considering the time schedule calculating back from July 2011, the proposed time for termination of analogue services. How should digital broadcasts be transmitted all over the country? How should the program contents of the new services be developed to attract viewers? How should the numerical target, 10 billion digital TV sets for 48 million households, be achieved? It is necessary for broadcasters, related companies such as digital receiver manufacturers, and central and local governments to promote discussions on tactics for rapid dissemination and to implement them in accordance with each entity's role as well as in cooperation.
In the meanwhile, convergence of broadcasting and telecommunication is advancing. It will enable to provide administrative and disaster information on TV as well as various services on mobile phones. Moreover, diffusion and advancement of digital recorders will expand the range of the service. These aspects may draw on a breakthrough in the problems concerning the termination of analogue broadcasts.
This article summarizes the trend over the first year of digital terrestrial broadcasting and look toward the future based on questionnaires for and interviews with NHK and 127 commercial broadcasters and the all 47 prefectural governments in Japan, which now strive to advance regional informatization.