NHK’s Educational Television (ETV) celebrated its 60th anniversary early this year. “Series: Sixty Years of Educational Television” comprehensively analyzes ETV programs by dividing them into groups. The third installment examines seven groups of programs: “youth,” “culture and liberal arts,” “art and performance,” “industry and economy,” “science and health,” “elderly and welfare,” and “news and other.”
“Youth programs”, along with programs for preschoolers, had been mainly broadcast on NHK General TV (GTV) until 1980s, but ETV has increased the number of these programs since “block programming” was introduced in the 1990s. “Culture and liberal arts programs” have long-standing series such as Nichiyo bijutsukan (Sunday art museum) and Kokoro no jikan (mental health hour). In addition to them, various programs have been introduced since “educational and cultural courses” were terminated in the 2010s. Since the launch of the channel, ETV’s “art and performance,” “industry and economy,” and “science and health” programs have been distinctive from those of GTV. Since the 1990s, with Japan’s population rapidly aging, ETV has increased the number and the hours of “elderly and welfare” programs. Likewise, responding to the needs of the times, ETV has also been broadcasting “news and other” programs that show the characteristics of the channel.
This article examines the transition of each group of programs and wraps up the series by summarizing the characteristics of ETV programs and scheduling as well as its expansion into websites to discuss the roles of ETV in creating a lifelong learning society. in the future