Julia Stoll
Research expert covering TV and video media
Television industry in Japan - statistics and facts
Television is an important part of the media and entertainment industry in Japan. The medium became firmly entrenched in the lives of Japanese consumers in the 1960s and 1970s, when the country’s high economic growth brought about an unprecedented affluence that enabled more and more households to purchase TV sets. Today, the country is home to seven national television networks, of which five are centered on commercial key stations. Next to the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), which serves as Japan’s public broadcaster and operates NHK General TV and NHK Educational TV, there are Fuji TV, Nippon TV, TV Asahi, TBS Television, and TV Tokyo. The sales of the broadcasting industry amount to several trillion Japanese yen annually, of which terrestrial broadcasting makes up the largest part.
