From the Yomuiri Shimbun: NHK business plan rejected.

     The committee overseeing NHK decided Tuesday not to approve the public broadcaster's business plan, which includes a proposal to cut the viewing fee by between 50 yen and 100 yen, effectively demanding a bigger cut, committee members said.

     The NHK Management Committee asked the national broadcaster's executive to revise the business plan, saying it does not contain measures to ensure a fair share of costs among the public that will promote the maintenance of the public broadcasting system, they said.

     The committee, led by Fujifilm Holdings Corp. President Shigetaka Komori, asked the management to resubmit a revised plan by September 2008. It is unusual for the committee to reject the business plan.

     By refusing to approve the plan, the committee effectively demanded that NHK offer a greater reduction in the viewing fee. While NHK originally planned to start lowering the fee from October 2008, the fee reduction will be postponed to in or after April 2009, due to the committee's decision.

     While I applaud the committe's efforts to drive down the public subsidy that NHK recieves  the real question is why do entities like the NHK and BBC continue to live off of the public's teat when they are now all fighting with successful privately funded competitors.  The original idea for public funding was to ensure equitable access to the airwaves for all citizens, rather than private companies focusing on highly profitable markets, and ignoring rural and small town customers.  The fact that can, and do act as propaganda tools for their parent governments was certainly not lost on their creators.  In the age of video on demand, live streams, DVDs and staellite sytems with 300+ channels the days of the publicly funded, state owned broadcasters should be over, yet they continue to cling to life in places as far apart and dissimilar as Britain and Japan.  The strongest argument against such fees is the fact that since they are no longer the sole content provider why sould people pay for content that they may or may not view.  Thankfully the US avoided such siliness and has always had ad revenue supported radio and television.  I know that the NHK has turned out some fine programs, including the Planetes anime, which is excellent.  But it can not realisticly maintain that it requires public dollars to survive when none of its competitors need public largesse to produce programming of equal quality.

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     TNT has three of the best shows on TV, hands down.  If you have yet to catch Heartland, The Closer and Saving Grace get your TV listings out and make it a point to check out these great shows.  While the networks have continued to pump out bland, predictable sitcoms and dramas¹ cable has seemingly cornered the market on high quality programming.  With the possible exception of some of Fox's animated shows, HOUSE and 24 the best of everything is on cable.  The afore mentioned shows, plus Mind of Mencia, South Park, Rescue Me, The Shield, Rome, The Sopranos, Dirty Jobs, MythBusters, Dallas SWAT (and other cities) The First 48, The Bronx is Burning and Deadliest Catch all have homes on cable channels.  The networks have been left in the dust because cable is free to take risks that they can't or won't take.  More importantly the Cable channels have also hit upon the fact that you don't have to structure your seasons according to the flawed and highly questionable nielson ratings system.  If you wnat a season to begin June or July you can basically sieze the field and viewers well before the networks roll out their fresh episodes in the fall.  God save the Networks!*

¹ER is a prime example of a show that was once great that should have gotten the ax at least 5 years ago.

*The traditional call from the crowd at the coronation of a British monarch is to call for God to save the King (or Queen), who has died.

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