Fuji TV To Put Programmes On The Web

[Mulboyne]

[floatl][/floatl]Fuji Television has announced that it will start making some of its drama and variety programming available on the web. The intend to charge for it however. The first drama to go up will be Celeb & Poor which has just started its run. This will be followed by short comedy routines from Bakusho Red Carpet which have already proved popular when they have turned up illegally on services like YouTube. The station says they are targeting younger viewers who have been turning away from regular broadcasts. TV stations have been reluctant to put up major programming because they fear the loss of advertising revenues. This perhaps explains why they haven't decided to offer free access and are starting instead with a subscription model. Fuji is proposing to charge 300 yen per viewing or 1500 yen for all the drama episodes and programmes can be viewed through personal computers or mobile phones. Other broadcasters are expected to come up with their own strategies and NHK already has announced a plan for net uploads in December. There are still some outstanding issues to be resolved with regard to getting agreement from all copyright holders but negotiations are making progress.

[IkemenTommy]

Yet, they still take down videos posted on youtube.

[Mulboyne]

NHK's service starts next week.

Yomiuri: Will NHK's on-demand service prove a hit?

NHK on Demand, set for launch Dec. 1, has the potential to shake up the way people watch television in terms of what they watch and when. But with the new service, does NHK really have a winning strategy on its hands? Viewers will be able to watch programs whenever they like using either a computer with a broadband Internet connection or TV sets connected to certain cable services. NHK will offer more than 90 "catch-up programs," such as episodes of the drama "Dandan" and editions of "NHK Special" for about one week after they are broadcast, while an "archive selection" of 130 programs will include such shows as "Project X" and the one-year series drama "Takeda Shingen." NHK plans to add about 80 programs to the archive selection each month, with most costing 315 yen per viewing. The revised Broadcast Law that came into force at the end of last year gave NHK the all-clear to start showing programs for a fee. However, the law requires NHK to manage the financial accounts of this service separately from the account for regular receiving fees used to finance NHK. The reasoning goes that the operation of this new service that caters to a limited number of users should be covered by those who benefit from it. The working expenses during the early stages of the service will be borrowed from the income generated by fees.

NHK expects the service to run at a loss for the first two years due to expenses involved in addressing broadband connection, copyright and other issues. But the public broadcaster expects to turn a profit in the third fiscal year, projecting that 320,000 people will sign up for the service, generating sales of 4 billion yen. In fiscal 2013, NHK predicts it will have 450,000 users bringing in 7.1 billion yen--enough to clear the accumulated losses. Masamitsu Obara, who heads the on-demand bureau, said he is ready for the challenges ahead. "Marketing surveys and other data suggest that most of the service's users will be men in their 30s to 50s. As for dealing with the copyright issues involved, we have reached agreements with all the relevant groups administering these rights," Obara said. "We must ensure a balance between expenses and income so that profits can be distributed among the rights holders. We want to establish a fee-based business model." But if use of the service does not grow as planned, NHK will find itself in a hole. It cannot rely on handouts from viewing fees forever, so its operation of the service likely would come under pressure for an overhaul. Another potential fly in the ointment could be the relation this service has with digital educational materials and news programs that NHK has been providing for free on its Web site as a supplementary broadcasting service since 2002.

Private broadcasters initially fumed that these materials "would impact on private sector business." The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry set a ceiling of 1 billion yen on annual expenses of NHK's Net business, but this threshold will be lifted to 4 billion yen from the next fiscal year. NHK insists these materials "are of a highly public nature" and are made available instead of being rebroadcast. However, drawing a line between these materials and the on-demand programs is a murky proposition. Meanwhile, major commercial TV stations that launched on-demand services in 2005 are not standing idly by. NTV distributes news clips unlikely to create copyright problems, late night programs, animation and digital broadcasts from its affiliated stations. Some stations provide these programs for a fee, while others distribute them for free and cover their costs through advertising. The competition is cutthroat. Fuji TV this month became the first major commercial station to distribute two prime-time programs on demand--a popular variety show targeting young viewers and a drama series. Each viewing costs 315 yen. "I was initially rather negative about the whole concept because I thought it would push viewers away to the Internet," said Katsuaki Suzuki, an executive managing director at Fuji TV. "But we thought about how to bring the young people of the Internet generation back to TV. We have to distribute genuine products to prevent illegal copying, and we reached copyright agreements with all the relevant rights holders." "We'll boost our program lineup to increase revenue from sources other than broadcasting, and I think we'll be in the black in fiscal 2010," he added.

Some observers expect this plan could push other broadcasters to inject popular programs into their on-demand Net services. Letting viewers watch a program they missed or a classic show from the past is convenient and increases their viewing options. The arrival of NHK, with its massive archive of programs, will take the on-demand market to a new level. But dominance in the market will, naturally, come down to whether the programs available on a service are good enough to tempt people to pay for them.

[omae mona]

NHK's service starts next week.

Yomiuri: Will NHK's on-demand service prove a hit?

Well, I decided to take it for a whirl today.

First attempt: error message. "Sorry, we only support Windows OS".

So I switched to Windows.

Second attempt: error message. "Sorry, we only support Internet Explorer".

So I switched to Internet Explorer.

Third attempt: error message: "You need a special version of Windows Media Player. Click here to download.."

So I closed the page and logged onto FG!

[American Oyaji]

Well, I decided to take it for a whirl today.

First attempt: error message. "Sorry, we only support Windows OS".

So I switched to Windows.

Second attempt: error message. "Sorry, we only support Internet Explorer".

So I switched to Internet Explorer.

Third attempt: error message: "You need a special version of Windows Media Player. Click here to download.."

So I closed the page and logged onto FG!

Three strikes and their out, huh?

I smell a deal with Microsloth