Popular Views on Public Service Broadcasting: a Report of an NHK Survey in Seven Countries

November 2006 Popular Views on Public Service Broadcasting: A Report of an NHK Survey in Seven Countries NAKAMURA Yoshiko, YONEKURA Ritsu and YOKOYAMA Shigeru NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute 1. Introduction NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute conducted an international comparative survey of public service broadcasting in seven countries: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This survey was designed to investigate how public service broadcasting (PSB) is perceived by viewers and what roles it is expected to play in society at a time of transition in the media environment. The survey focused on four aspects of PSB. i. use of media ii. satisfaction and expectations of services provided by public service broadcasters iii. people’s knowledge and views on funding sources, and iv. relations between public service broadcasters and licence fee payers Including questions concerning the basic operational principles that have long been considered essential to public service broadcasters, the survey seeks to identify factors necessary for considering new roles of public service broadcasting in the digital age. 2. Methodology 1) Fieldwork The survey was based on a random digit-dialing sample of around 1000 respondent age 20 and over in each of the seven countries listed above. The telephone interviews were conducted between 27 February and 5 March 2006. 2) Targeted public service broadcasters in the seven countries The “public service broadcasters” we have chosen are all a） those financed to some extent by public funding such as through receiving fees, licence fees and/or public subsidies, and b） those whose editorial independence is institutionally ensured. France: France Télévisions Korea: KBS Germany: ARD United Kingdom: BBC Italy: RAI United States: PBS Japan: NHK 1 November 2006 3. Main Findings 1) “Necessity of PSB” widely supported In almost every country, more than 4 in 5 of those surveyed think that PSB is necessary. In Italy, although with the lowest proportion among these seven countries, the figure was 75 percent. Figure 1 Q9 Necessity of PSB （in descending order of "Necessary"+"Somewhat necessary"） Korea 54 41 4 0 Necessary 1 France 40 51 6 3 1 Somewhat necessary US 65 26 4 4 2 Somewhat UK 64 22 6 7 1 unnecessary Unnecessary Germany 60 26 6 7 1 Japan 36 47 11 5 2 DON’T KNOW Italy 51 24 10 12 3 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Examined through cross-tabulation, there are more who think “PSB is necessary” in older age groups than in younger in Germany, Japan, and Italy, although there is no clear difference between the age groups in France, Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the case of Korea, almost 100 percent in every age group expressed belief in the necessity. Figure 2 Q9 Those who think "PSB is (somewhat) necessary" 100 90 80 70 Japan 60 UK Germany 50 France Italy 40 US Korea 30 20 10 0 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ 2 November 2006 In Japan, over 90 percent of the age groups 60-69 and 70 and older think that PSB is either “Necessary” or “Somewhat necessary.” For the 20-29 and 30-39 age groups, the proportion was around 80 percentt. Figure 3 Q9 Necessity of PSB (Japan) 2 1 3222 100% 1 4 6 3 8 6 4 5 16 11 12 16 80% 39 45 DON’T KNOW 60% 43 Unnecessary 50 56 47 Somewhat unnecessary Somewhat necessary 40% Necessary 53 47 20% 37 29 24 28 0% 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ 2) More than 60 percent agree “it is important to pay a TV licence fee” in Germany, Japan, UK and Korea In Germany, 77 percent believe it is important to pay a TV licence fee in order to maintain public service broadcasting. In the United States, the same percentage of people agree with the statement, “it is important to make a donation to maintain public broadcasting.” The ratio of those who agreed with the statement was 66 percent in Japan, 64 percent in the UK and 61 percent in Korea, while in Italy and France the ratio was less than 50 percent. Figure 4 Q11 Importance to pay licence fee （in descending order of "agree" + "agree to some degree"） Germany 46 31 11 12 1 US 41 36 10 12 2 (donation) Japan 34 32 18 13 2 UK 42 22 9 26 1 Korea 21 40 24 14 1 France 14 35 20 31 1 Italy 19 25 19 35 2 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Agree Agree to some degree Disagree to some degree Disagree (DON’T KNOW) 3 November 2006 In age groups of 60 years old and over, 80 percent or more who think it is important to pay licence fees in Germany and Japan. There is a tendency for fewer in the younger age groups to think so, with the exception of the United Kingdom, where 68 percent in the 20-29 year age group answered that it is important. Figure 5 Q11 Those who agree to the importance to pay licence fee 100 90 80 70 Japan 60 UK Germany 50 France Italy 40 US 30 Korea 20 10 0 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ 3) The funding systems are well-understood in the seven countries Most respondents in the seven countries were able to accurately identify the main source of PSB funding. Percentages of correct answers are high in Japan (82 percent) and in the United Kingdom (76 percent). Table 1-A Q10 Knowledge about main source of funding As far as you know, what do you think is NHK’s (or your PSB’s) main source of funding? （S. A. ） France Germany Italy Japan Korea UK Licence fees 21.9 43.9 18.2 82.1 26.8 76.1 Taxes 6 3.4 3.5 6.8 6.2 3.9 Donations 0.6 0.8 0.6 0.4 2.7 0.7 Licence fees and advertising 65.8 45.8 63.8 7.1 57.8 12.2 Others 2.4 2.2 1 0.6 2.3 1.8 (DON’T KNOW) 3.3 4 13 3 4.2 5.4 Table 1-B Q10’.（US）As far as you know, what do you think is the PBS’s main source of funding? As far as you know, what do you think is the PBS’s main source of funding? subsidies 14.3 underwriting 21.9 donations 52.4 some other 5.4 DK 6.1 4 November 2006 4) Viewing and satisfaction i. Number of Available Channels According to survey respondents, people in the United States enjoy the largest number of TV channels in these seven countries. The second largest number are enjoyed by viewers in the United Kingdom. In Japan, only 4 percent of people enjoy more than 51 channels at home. Figure 6 Q4 Number of receivable TV channels at home Japan 2 17 48 29 3 1 Korea 2 16 10 47 25 1 Italy 5 4 29 45 7 10 Germany 5 35 68 9 11 France 3 36 28 15 5 13 UK 3 27 6 29 14 21 US 4 9 7 20 33 28 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% (DON’T KNOW) 1 to 5 channels 6 to 10 channels 11 to 50 channels 51 to 100 channels More than 100 channels ii. TV Viewing Time People in the United Kingdom watch TV the most, 44 percent regularly watching more than three hours a day on Monday through Friday. In France and Italy the percentage of people who watch more than three hours of television is comparatively small. Figure 7 Q1 TV Viewing Time (in descending order） 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% UK 32 20 44 US 40 18 37 Germany 41 20 35 Japan 38 26 34 Korea 47 22 29 France 53 21 21 Italy 57 18 22 2 hours - 3 hours 4 hours + Generally, older people watch TV for more hours, younger people fewer. 5 November 2006 iii. Use of the Internet As for web browsing, the percentage of those who use Internet at home almost everyday is highest in Korea (42 percent) and the second highest is in the U.S. (37 percent). Large proportions of respondents were without Internet access at home in Italy (54 percent) and France (49 percent). Figure 8 Q3 Use of the Internet (in descending order of those who use "Almost everyday") 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Korea 42 16 7 5 21 10 US 37 14 8 4 6 30 1 France 30 11 4 2 4 49 1 UK 28 13 7 4 11 38 1 Germany 25 12 8 5 8 40 1 Japan 23 12 6 4 16 40 Italy 17 9 5 2 9 54 4 Almost everyday 2 or 3 days a week About 1 day a week Once or twice a month Rarely no Internet access at home (DON’T KNOW) iv. Preference for Public Service TV and Commercial TV Forty-three percent of people in France prefer public service TV, whereas 66 percent in the U.S. and 57 percent in Japan prefer commercial TV. Figure 9 Q2 PSB or Commercial TV （in descending order of those who "watch PSB channel(s) more") France 47 33 18 3 Germany 41 22 35 2 Korea 33 34 32 1 Italy 28 38 31 2 UK 25 38 35 2 Japan 23 20 57 1 US 13 18 66 3 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% PSB even Commercial TV DK 6 November 2006 v.

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