Less than a year remains before the total switch to terrestrial digital TV broadcasts in Japan. Analog TV broadcasts are scheduled to end July 24, 2011. While preparations for the transition are being pushed, many problems must be solved to ensure a smooth transition.
The National Association of Commercial Broadcasters in Japan says that by the end of this year, 98.5 percent of the nation's households should be able to receive digital TV broadcast waves. The price of popular 32-inch digital TVs has dropped to around ¥50,000. Government "eco-point" subsidies have helped boost digital TV sales. As of March, the accumulated shipment of digital TVs reached 73.74 million units, and 83.8 percent of Japan's households owned such TVs, the communications ministry reports.
But among households with an annual income of less than ¥2 million, the ownership rate was only 67.5 percent. Free digital tuners — to be connected to analog TVs — are being distributed to as many as 2.7 million households on welfare. Only 820,000 households, or about 30 percent of the households on welfare, applied to receive the tuners by the end of May. The ministry has had difficulty identifying such households in need of the tuners.