Assessment of NHK from Perspective of Audiences FY 2011 Report —Summary— June 2012 Committee for Assessment of NHK from Perspective of Audiences Contents Forward P2 Purpose of ‘Committee for Assessment of NHK from Perspective of Audiences’ and action plans for FY 2011 P4 Main Assessment Committee activities in FY 2011 P5 Assessment yardsticks: Two pillars of audience trust and eight yardsticks P6 Basic policy of assessment and assessment methodology P9 ≪FY 2011 assessment results≫ Trust in broadcasting and management (summary) P12 FY 2011 assessment results: Trust in broadcasting P14 FY 2011 assessment results: Trust in management P20 ≪Overview of Assessment Committee activities in 2009-2011≫ Assessment of NHK from perspective of audiences: Overview of three-year assessment results P24 Chall enges an d proposa ls for NHK P33 Conclusion: Public broadcasting and audience perspective P42 1 Forward The Committee for the Assessment of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) from the Perspective of Audiences (the Assessment Committee) has assessed NHK’s broadcasting services and management activities on the basis of a set of “two pillars of trust and eight yardsticks”. This assessment framework was devised by the Committee established in 2009. The Assessment Committee aims to ensure that NHK will generate higher value as a public broadcaster while maintaining high levels of audience trust in it. To that end, the Assessment Committee has researched and thoroughly analyzed audiences’ expectations and assessment of NHK and now compiles its findings in this FY 2011 ｒ report. In its assessment of NHK in fiscal 2011, the last year of its term, the Assessment Committee applied the basic set of assessment yardsticks, as in the preceding two years to learn what expectations audiences of NHK’s services have and to what extent they thought NHK lived up to their expectations. With respect to documents and data we gathered and used in the last year, there was no major difference from those for fiscal 2009 and 2010 in terms of formats and characteristics. Compared with fiscal 2009, there was an improvement in audiences’ trust both in NHK’s broadcasting services and in its management in fiscal 2010. However, the fiscal 2011 rating of audiences’ trust in NHK’s broadcasting services was almost unchanged from the previous year at 3.8 out of 5 points, while that in NHK’s management fell to 2.6. A scrutiny of audiences’ feedback regarding their trust in NHK’s broadcasting services shows year-on-year declines in some items. As part of its annual assessment endeavors, the Assessment Committee, using the first half of its fiscal 2011 report, re fers to w hat is to blame for suc h downs ide c hanges an d w hat will have to be done in response to the situation. The environment surrounding broadcasting in Japan has changed tremendously over the last three years. The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011 and the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima put to the test not only the emergency broadcasting system but also the public broadcasting system. For its part, NHK immediately deployed massive resources to cope effectively with the emergencies. As a result, audiences’ expectations for NHK rose temporarily, as mentioned in the last year’s report, and audiences’ assessment of NHK remained relatively in favor of it. However, surveys conducted thereafter pointed to a subtle change in audiences’ expectations—their expectations were on the decline. At this stage, we do not know if the negative trend will continue. Nonetheless, we can say for sure that now is the time to look into what a public broadcaster ought to do in terms of enhancing audiences’ expectations for broadcasting services. 2 In addition, Japan completed a nationwide shift to digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB) in 2011, a major epoch-making development that creates an environment where the broadcasting and communications spheres join hands to integrate their expertise for further technological development and utilization. Various surveys show that audiences’ “media behaviors” are changing. Such a change is likely to cause audiences ’ awareness o f broa dcast ing serv ices to ch ange. Al th ough i t i s good news that the digital switchover has gone without major hitches, the change in audiences’ behaviors will entail compelling NHK to face a new challenge—the redefinition of broadcasting services in DTTB infrastructure. With the new environment in mind in the third and last year of its term, the Assessment Committee has taken a comprehensive look into a series of changes seen over the last three years, identified their structural aspects and focused on NHK ’ s new challenges . When we were asked three years ago to set up the NHK Assessment Committee from the Perspective of Audiences and engage in assessment activities, we thought that we were undertaking an unprecedented task. It was challenging, indeed, in that broadcasters anywhere in the world had rarely been subject to comprehensive assessment from the perspective of audiences audiences. After some trial and error , we managed to develop what we call an “NHK model” for assessing broadcasts, which we consider an achievement in line with our mission. However, the model is not perfect yet—it needs to be refined further. Though our team’s term comes to an end now, we sincerely hope that efforts to develop and refine the assessment model will be sustained in one way or another so as to help raise the value of public broadcasting services. We acknowledge the cooperation extended by many people. Indeed, we are very grateful to those audience members, NHK employees and well-versed broadcasting technology experts who cooperated with us in our elaborate research. Our thanks also go to the President and other executive officers of NHK for adequately responding to questions—some of them harsh—and willingly disclose information to us. We hope that NHK will keep fostering Japan’s rich broadcasting culture in the future , enabling as many people as possible to benefit from it. June 21, 2012 The Committee for the Assessment of NHK from the Perspective of Audiences TANIFUJI Etsushi, Professor, Waseda University, Chairman EGAMI Setsuko, Professor, Musashi University, Committee Member YAMAUCHI Hirotaka, Professor, Hitotsubashi University, Committee Member 3 Purpose of ‘Committee for Assessment of NHK from Perspective of Audiences’ and action plans for FY 2011 （Purpose） The Committee for the Assessment of NHK from the Perspective of Audiences (the Assessment Committee) was established on April 1, 2009, as an advisory panel of the President of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). It is independent of the Executive Board of NHK so as to objectively assess NHK’s activities. The Assessment Committee first assigns itself to the task of studying the medium - and long-term role NHK should assume as a public broadcaster. Then it develops a set of assessment yardsticks and items on its own. Finally, it enters into the process of assessment with an emphasis on the “outcome” (e.g., scrutinizing the outcome of NHK efforts from the perspective of audiences). However, outcome-based assessment has its own limitation, given that NHK’s activities are not entirely visible to audiences (e.g., highly specialized R&D endeavors and the extent of staff “activation,” etc.). As a complementary step, some assessment approaches take into account “output” (the extent of relevant activities on the part of NHK), but even in such a case, the Assessment Committee holds fast to the principle of emphasizing audiences’ standpoint. The Assessment Committee looks into and analyzes how audiences perceive NHK as of the end of March 2012, when fiscal 2011 ends, and palpably depicts the extent to which NHK lives uppp to audiences’ expectations. Results of the Assessment Committee’s assessment of NHK are to be disclosed to the Executive Board of NHK and the public as well. （Action plans for FY 2011) As in fiscal 2009 and 2010, the Assessment Committee uses a set of assessment yardsticks and items of its own for its fiscal 2011 assessment of NHK. As its three-year term comes to an end in fiscal 2011, it identifies challenges for NHK and offers approaches to solving them after scrutinizing three-year assessment results. Role of Committee for Assessment of NHK from Perspective of Audiences The whole of NHK Audiences Business plans Input Output Outcome ・Setting goals ・Management ・Results of measures ・Audiences’ responses ・Preparing measures resources deployed Depicting NHK in a palpable way based on assessment Conveying assessment results yardsticks (perception of NHK) and assessment results NHK Assessment Committee from Perspective of Audience Assessing outcome from audience perspective Grasping activities Grasping audiences’ expectations, needs and opinions 4 Main Assessment Committee activities in FY 2011 (1) Assessment Committee’s surveys and inspections ① Audience perception survey To learn audiences’ perception of NHK, the Assessment Commitment conducted a nationwide survey in March 2012, using a set of assessment yardsticks developed on its own. The survey, employing the two-stage stratified random sampling method, covered 3,600 men and women aged 16 and over through the interviewing method and the placement method (questionnaires distributed). Valid responses amounted to 2,001 in the interviewing version, w hereas there were 1 ,888 va lid responses in the p lacemen t me thod . Th e valid response rat es were 55 .6% for the former and 52.4% for the latter. ② Media usage online survey A nationwide online audience survey was carried out in November 2011 to grasp the latest state of audiences’ media usage and what services they want local NHK stations to provide. The web-based survey covered men and women aged 16 and over with approximately 2,000 valid responses returned. ③ Surveyypg of NHK program monitors The Assessment Committee held a web survey of NHK program monitors in February 2012 with 553 of them responding.