Issues surrounding television in the age of convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications: Focusing on 4K·8K and video streaming service

Abstract

With more than five years since Japan's completion of digital switch over, the environment surrounding television and broadcasting have changed dramatically. Terminals are now multi devices, transmission paths broadband, and broadcast services available on digital platforms, and we see plenty of video streaming service on the internet that are not for existing TV terminals, not using broadcast waves, and not operated by broadcasters. Under these circumstances, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) established a "study group on problems surrounding broadcasting" in November 2015 and started separate discussions on each issue from October 2016. This article first examines the relations between the recent changes occurring in the television and broadcasting industry and the government's broadcast policy, based on which the author discusses the two key topics in the recent debates--4K·8K broadcasts and the internet distribution of broadcast content.