The complacency of the Japanese TV industry has been shattered by the arrival of American media mogul Rupert Murdoch, writes John Watts in Tokyo
IN the aftermath of Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of a big stake in a Japanese terrestrial television station, the country’s media establishment is trying to come to terms with the presence of the most powerful foreigner in their midst for decades.
In partnership with Maasayoshi Son, the founder of the software company Softbank, Murdoch struck a deal in June to secure 21,4% of TV Asahi, the largest single shareholding in the fourth largest of Japan’s five main television companies.
Coming just eight days after Murdoch announced plans to launch a JSkyB satellite service offering more than 100 channels to Japanese viewers, the news of the share purchase created a stir that has yet to die down.
“It was like seeing a black ship suddenly appearing in front of my eyes,” reflected one TV Asahi employee, equating Murdoch’s arrival with the American warships which forced Japan to end centuries of isolation in the mid-19th century.
Sightings of Murdoch-owned black ships have also been made by a number of newspapers and media analysts, usually followed by cries of alarm at the perilous state of the so-called 1955 system, under which the big companies, protected from overseas competition by the language barrier and strict rules regarding foreign ownership, have been able to dominate Japanese television for more than 40 years.
This has made them complacent. Although Japanese companies produce most of the world’s television sets, the spread of satellite and cable technology has been slow.
Only three million of the country’s 40- million homes have cable television, and the most popular satellite service, run by the state-controlled NHK network, has fewer than two million subscribers.
Similarly, there is relatively little variety in programming. A handful of talento (celebrities) monopolise the airwaves. It is not uncommon for one talento to appear on three channels on the same day.
“Some people are happy with the networks’ celebrity programmes, but a lot of others are sick of them,” said Hirota Kasahara, chairman of PerfectTV, which launched a new satellite service this month.
PerfectTV is not the only rival Murdoch’s JSkyB will face. The United States firm DirectTV plans to begin satellite broadcasts in Japan next year.
With a number of smaller cable operators also starting up, the market could soon be crowded with more than 500 channels.
Most will be aimed at niche markets, including foreign language broadcasts for the Korean and Brazilian communities. Several analysts have expressed concern that this could chip away at the perception of cultural homogeneity in Japan.
But of greater concern is the 95-million TV Asahi deal. “The shocking thing was that one of the world’s biggest media operators was suddenly allowed to step into territory previously off-limits to foreigners,” said Yoshihiro Oto, a media specialist at Sofia University in Tokyo.
“Japan’s strict media ownership regulations had always made it a difficult market to enter, but the posts and telecommunication industry appears to have unofficially welcomed Murdoch because they think he can help internationalise the industry.”
By having Son as his partner, Murdoch was able to circumvent the Japanese broadcasting law, which limits non-Japanese shareholdings in television companies to 20%. The link has done nothing to allay fears.
Son, the grandson of a Korean immigrant to Japan, established Softbank in 1981. The company now controls half of Japan’s wholesale software market and has diversified in a rapid and aggressive expansion strategy.
It has earned him acclaim as the Japanese Bill Gates, but also censure for his “non- Japanese business practices”.
As if to remind the newcomers who is boss, the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry last month blocked a Murdoch appointee to the Asahi board, strictly enforcing a law forbidding non-Japanese to take up executive positions in broadcasting.
For the moment the black ship is being kept at bay, but observers in the media expect further landings.
The Mainichi Shimbun newspaper urges vigilance. “Murdoch has only bought a partial stake in a single company, but that should not make us complacent. This could be just a first step.”