ニュース 2009/01/28 Comment on the proposed budgetary allocation for NHK for fiscal 2009 On January 28, DPJ Next Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Kazuhiro Haraguchi issued the following comment. On January 14, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) submitted its proposed budget for fiscal 2009 to the Prime Minister. There are several points that call for an explanation in the proposal, which is NHK’s first deficit budget in 13 years. Firstly, there is the fact that the figure for dividends paid to NHK from subsidiaries has been decreased 4.08 billion yen in comparison to the projected settlement figure in the 2008 budget. In 2007 the Board of Audit of Japan said that there were some question marks regarding the large surpluses possessed by these subsidiaries, and suggested that they should increase the dividends made to NHK. Following this, we believe that it is necessary to verify the adequacy of these measures. The second point relates to the projected increase in revenues from viewer subscriptions of 14 billion yen as compared to the previous year. Doubts remain as to whether it is possible for the corporation to achieve such an increase in view of the seemingly endless series of scandals that have damaged confidence in NHK, such as the allegations of insider-trading by employees. The third point concerns the fact that the costs of contracts and fee collection still remain at a high level, eating up 11.5 % of the revenue obtained from subscriptions, despite the fact that the DPJ has repeatedly urged for this ratio to be reduced. We need to establish whether NHK has made serious efforts to reduce these costs. The DPJ will question NHK and the NHK Board of Governors in the Diet and other venues regarding these points, and investigate whether the budgetary proposal is adequate, as well as continuing to call for further administrative reforms and structural improvements so that NHK can fulfil its mission as a public broadcaster.