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Can NHK justify its huge collection costs?

NHK spends 76.9 billion yen a year on its fee collection system. Trevor Clarke finds out how the money is spent, and asks whether the cost is really necessary

By Tervor Clarke

Aug 1, 2006

NHK spends a massive 76.9 billion yen per year on its fee collection system, which equates to some 12.4 percent of the national broadcaster annual operating income.

Satoru Matsubara, the chairman of an advisory panel to Communications Minister Heizo Takenaka and a professor at Toyo University, recently described the amount spent on collection as "abnormal."

But just how is this money spent, and is it really "abnormal" as Matsubara claims?

Can NHK justify its huge collection costs?

NHK spends 76.9 billion yen a year on its fee collection system. Trevor Clarke finds out how the money is spent, and asks whether the cost is really necessary

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