NHK F*cked on Fees (door slam sound here)

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Fee refusals put NHK on red alert
From Nikkei Net Interactive

Concern is deepening at national broadcaster NHK as the number of households refusing to pay their "mandatory" subscription fees continues to head north, costing the firm billions of yen in revenue and triggering serious management problems.

At a news conference on June 2, Genichi Hashimoto, president of NHK - known formally as Japan Broadcasting Corp. - said the number of households refusing or suspending fee payments grew by about 223,000 to 970,000 at the end of May from two months earlier.........

"I think the number of viewers who refuse to pay because of their anger at embezzlement scandals and their opposition to the way we handled the events, is declining," Hashimoto said. Rather, his concern focused more on the increasing number of viewers citing other reasons for not paying, such as that it is unfair that they have to pay while many of their neighbors are not and that they do not view NHK programs.........

In its business plan for fiscal 2005 that started April 1, NHK forecasts revenues from subscription fees to decline by about 7.2 billion yen in the current fiscal year from the previous year, based on the assumption that the number of nonpayments would range from 450,000 to 500,000 at the end of March.

However, the actual number soared to 747,000, which would depress revenue by an additional 4 billion yen from the initial forecast for fiscal 2005.

The increase of 223,000 nonpayments over April and May means that the broadcaster would have to slash its revenue forecast by another 3.0-3.5 billion yen. NHK said it will strive to limit the rise of nonpayments through frequent visits to viewers and by cutting back on construction investment and other costs.

The broadcaster is eager to recoup at least half of the losses by persuading viewers to pay and other means.

Full story here

[Taro Toporific]

[b]Fee refusals put NHK on[color=red] red alert[/size][

The broadcaster is eager to recoup at least half of the losses by persuading viewers to pay and other means.

Hmm. I wonder what those "other means" are?
Gay yakuza NHK collectors?



HINT: Nonpayment of NHK fees does not have any penality... so a sane person would not pay for Japan Inc. propaganda TV.