The Japanese television broadcasting business in the early years (1950s to 1960s) : considering aspects of the practical use of imported programs

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of imported television programs and how the creation of the domestic industry for program contents production involved domestic movie companies (DMC) and sponsors. One of the initial problems faced by the television business was the paucity of the domestic industry for producing programs. DMC held important resources, such as stocks of old movies and capabilities of producing contents, which could complement the television industry. But DMC did not cooperate with the television business, which thus had to depend on importing contents, mostly from the United States. Foreign exchange allocation for television enabled the television business to import programs. It meant that imported programs made up for the inadequacy of domestic capabilities to produce programs and contributed to the enrichment of television contents. Content improvement in turn contributed to the increase in the utility value of television sets themselves. Thus television broadcasting established itself as a new mass media at an early stage through the active use of imported programs. The substantial liberalization of the televisions contents trade in 1963 provided an opportunity for the television business to meet the conditions for the realization of a domestic industry to produce programs. In the meantime, the position of DMC as well as sponsors changed. In the middle of the 1960s, the domestic industry was finally established. DMC were then to become active participants in the television business, and sponsors came to appreciate the quality of domestic programs.