The government plans to introduce a bill next year to require all television viewers to pay fees to NHK, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Heizo Takenaka said Friday.

The government should reach a conclusion on the issue by next spring and submit a bill to the Diet during its ordinary session, which usually lasts until June, according to a broadcasting reform road map presented by Takenaka at a news conference.

The proposal for mandatory NHK subscription fees comes as many people refuse to pay the charges due partly to a spate of scandals involving NHK officials.

The scandals include the embezzlement of production funds by senior NHK officials, some of which was used for wining and dining.

There's also the case of an NHK reporter arrested in connection with seven house arson attacks in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, in 2005.

Another scandal involved alleged attempts by Liberal Democratic Party heavyweights Shinzo Abe, who is expected to become the next prime minister, and Shoichi Nakagawa to pressure NHK officials into censoring part of a documentary on a mock tribunal that found the late Emperor Hirohito guilty of authorizing the wartime military's use of sex slaves.

The reform road map also requires NHK to create a subsidiary to take over and enhance its overseas English television broadcasting service in fiscal 2009, which starts in April 2009.

A panel should be created to consider a realignment of NHK broadcasting channels, including a reduction in their number, which should be implemented by 2011, it said.

Reorganization of the broadcaster, including consolidation of subsidiaries, should start in or after 2007, it said.

During the ordinary Diet session next year, the government should also introduce a bill for broadcasters to found holding companies, according to the road map.