The management committee of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) has chosen Mr. Shigeo Fukuchi, adviser of Asahi Breweries Ltd., as its next president. Mr. Fukuchi will replace current NHK president Genichi Hashimoto, whose three-year term expires in January. Circumstances surrounding the selection of Mr. Fukuchi were not without commotion. Two of the management committee's 12 members held a news conference to protest what they said was committee chairman Shigetaka Komori's arbitrary and high-handed manner of conducting the proceedings. Eventually, though, all the committee members, except those two, supported Mr. Fukuchi as the public broadcaster's next president.
The selection of Mr. Fukuchi was somewhat uncustomary. He is the first president to come from outside NHK since the late Yoshizo Ikeda from Mitsui & Co. stepped down as NHK president in 1989. Mr. Hashimoto was an NHK engineer. With Mr. Fukuchi as president, two people from the business community will be at the top posts of the broadcaster. Mr. Komori is president of Fujifilm Holding Corp., and Mr. Fukuchi served as president and chairman of Asahi Breweries from 1999 through 2006.
Mr. Komori apparently hopes Mr. Fukuchi can improve the efficiency of NHK's management. His committee has rejected as lukewarm a five-year management plan presented by the current NHK leadership. Mr. Fukuchi faces the task of tackling such issues as the refusal of many people to pay viewership fees, the strengthening of overseas broadcast services, and the integration of related companies.