February 2012
From the 2011 Public Opinion Survey on Viewers Satisfaction with Programs
Sachiko Nakano / koji Fukada
NHK’s Programing Department has been conducting public opinion surveys on viewers’ satisfaction with programs as an attempt to objectively grasp viewers’ evaluation on “qualitative aspects” of TV programs, focusing on their awareness. The authors present the latest results of the survey and examine the advantages and issues of this survey series in order to report the reality of viewers’ awareness and evaluation of TV contents.
The purpose of this survey is to measure viewers’ awareness and satisfaction levels with individual programs, and respondents are asked to answer questions regarding their awareness of and satisfaction with major TV shows that are regularly aired on NHK General TV or five commercial terrestrial channels during the evening slot.
The latest survey revealed that the program with the highest visibility rate was NHK News 7 (86.4%). Other programs with higher visibility rate includes Wataru Seken Wa Oni Bakari, Sekai Fushigi Hakken!, and news and varieties which have been aired in the prime-time slot for many years; there have been no changes in this trend when compared to past surveys. The program that marked the highest satisfaction level was Jin (82.0%), followed by Marumo no Okite. As has happened in the past, the trend of higher satisfaction rates for NHK GTV programs is also seen in this survey, with six NHK GTV programs were among the top ten. Meanwhile, the fact that other four top-seats were occupied by programs on commercial channels signals a new trend.
In this latest survey, an item “reasons for viewing,” which had been used in the past surveys, was replaced by “impressions of viewing.” This change was due to a new attempt to evaluate each program’s qualitative orientation from more multifaceted perspectives because “reasons for viewing” basically consists of emotional aspects which are evoked by viewing certain programs. Along with “emotional” indices, ten questions were introduced so that the impression on the “impact” of program-viewing can be measured. As a result, for example, as to a question on whether a program is “carefully researched and produced,” nine out of top ten programs were NHK GTV shows, represented by Darwin ga Kita! Ikimono Shin Densetsu. TV programs with high marks regarding “trying to innovative approach or direction” include TIME SCOOP HUNTER (NHK GTV), HOKO X TATE (Fuji TV), and other varieties and educational programs which have incorporated new and different views, whether they be public (NHK) or commercial services. It will be necessary to continuously accumulate and examine the data of responses to questions related to “impressions of viewing.”