HOME : Features : No.13(Summer, 2000)

Introduction

This survey, "The Japanese and Television," is one of NHK's time-series public opinion surveys. This series also includes the National Audience Rating Survey, National Time Use Survey, and surveys on what the Japanese people value. These surveys are designed to highlight how opinions change over time by maintaining the same survey environment each time, including the use of identical questionnaires.
A drawback of such time-series surveys is the very fact that the questionnaires cannot be adjusted due to the concern about influencing the entire series of surveys, even though certain questions lose their significance over time. Some have felt that this type of survey is not suited to the ever-developing broadcasting field. Regardless of this widespread viewpoint, however, this series of surveys was initiated in 1985 because a decrease of television viewing around 1985 had forced researchers to realize the importance of such long-term time-series surveys in investigating the factors that had contributed to the decline.
The decline in TV viewing in fact bottomed out in 1985 and viewing began to increase once again with the previous losses eventually being regained. At the same time, the environment surrounding television has drastically changed due to the successive appearance of various new media. For example, in the 1985 survey, only 2% of the respondents owned CD players and 8% owned personal computers or word processors in the household. As a variety of media was becoming available, NHK conducted two "The Japanese and Television" surveys, in 1990 and 1995. However, during the past few years, the drastic diffusion of cellular phones and the Internet have made it impossible to use the same questionnaires for subsequent surveys. As a result, for the 2000 survey, approximately 20% of the questions were adjusted to ensure their appropriateness for today's culture. The prospect for effective future analysis was given priority, although this means that the adjusted questions cannot be compared to the previous time-series surveys.

1 Changes in TV viewing

(1) TV viewing behavior

An increase in long TV viewing time

Figure 1 General TV Viewing Hours

Most have set time slots for TV viewing
The survey asked respondents about eight aspects of their TV viewing habits. Overall, one trend that has not changed since 1985 is that the majority are selective about their TV-viewing (Figure 2): 79% of the respondents in the 2000 survey replied "I generally have a set time slot for watching TV"; 66% said that "I usually choose which program to watch by myself"; 60% responded "I only watch programs I want to see." The response "I prefer watching alone" increased from 32% to 37% and the response "I feel uneasy without the TV on" increased from 16% to 20% in this 15-year period.

Figure 2 TV-viewing Habits

More women "prefer watching TV alone"
Although more women "prefer watching TV alone," no major increase or decrease is seen in the response from men (Figure 3). Among women, a significant change is indicated in those in their 20's, and for women in their 50's and older. A contributing factor is probably the transition to a new solitary TV-viewing trend, in which people only watch TV programs they personally want to see.

Figure 3 Prefer Watching TV Alone

People who feel uneasy without the TV on
Although the respondents who replied, "I feel uneasy without the TV on" are still a minority, the past 15 years of surveys (Figure 4) show a steady increase in those responding in this way (16%20%). This increase occurs across all age brackets, from the young to the elderly. Respondents who "feel uneasy" are more often of the younger generation, especially those who habitually spend long periods of time watching TV on a daily basis, and who frequently switch channels while watching TV (Table 1).

Figure 4 Feel Uneasy without the TV On

Table 1 Feel Uneasy without the TV On

(2) TV Programs

Increase in "variety show" and "cultural program" viewing
Respondents were asked to pick the types of programs they most often watch from a total of 15 categories. The top three categories, "news and news magazine programs" (72%), "weather forecasts" (56%), and "dramas" (48%), have remained unchanged. However, the 2000 survey revealed a significant change in the other categories (Figure 5).
Reflecting people's programming preferences at the time of this survey, the categories which particularly gained in popularity are as followings: "cultural programs (nature/history/travel/science)" (25%30%), "variety shows" (20%29%), "political, economic, and social affairs programs" (20%24%), and "how-to programs" (14%19%).
A gradual percentage decline can be observed in "comedy and sitcoms" since 1985 (1914%), as well as a drastic decline in "quiz and game shows" (3617%). The category "music programs" regained popularity from 27% in 1990 and 29% in 1995, to the same point as the 1985 value of 36% (40% in 1985).

Figure 5 Favorite Programs (Multiple Answers)

Enjoyment of TV commercials increases
Regarding TV commercials, although almost half (45%) watch "without thinking that there is anything special about them," those who "enjoy watching TV commercials" increased from 24% to 28%. At the same time, those who "just bear them" declined from 16% down to 14%.
When classified by age group, younger viewers more often "enjoy" watching TV commercials, and the older group more often "bear them" (Figure 6). Figure 7 shows this response by year of birth for comparison with the 1985 results. The two surveys plot almost identical lines, indicating that no major attitude change toward TV commercials has occurred in the same generation over the past 15 years.

Figure 6 Viewpoint of TV Commercials (By Age Bracket)

Figure 7 Viewpoint of TV Commercials (By Birth Year)

Many select TV programs using a newspaper TV program schedule
The respondents were then asked about the main method they use to select TV programs to watch. The most popular method (60%) was a "TV schedule from a newspaper." Though it is said that the younger generation is leaving the newspaper medium, more than half of those in their 20's still use a newspaper TV schedule. Fourteen percent of those responding, particularly younger individuals, do not select programs in advance, but rather "select a TV program by switching channels with the remote control".
Although over 10 TV information magazines (Kanto region) are currently published, only 2% of the respondents "choose TV programs using a TV programming schedule from an information magazine." Less than 1% use a "TV programming schedule on the Internet."

Men, the younger stratum, often channel surf by remote control
Since TV sets with remote controls first appeared in the 70's, they have spread to most homes. How are people using the remote control? To the question, "Do you frequently use a remote control to switch channels while watching a TV program?," 36% of the respondents replied that they "often" switch channels, and a majority (54%) said that they "rarely" switch channels. More men than women, and particularly those in the younger stratum, "often" channel surf.

(3) Attitude toward TV

Decline in "TV as a topic for conversation with family members"
A person's attitude toward TV can be classified in various ways, including evaluation, expectation, hope, and opinion. In this section, we focus on the responses regarding evaluation; the influence of TV will be covered in a later section of this paper.
When asked to answer questions about the use of TV in their lives (its usefulness and effectiveness) from 8 listed categories, the respondents highly valued its usefulness as "a topic for conversation" (78%), as "an aid to understanding a variety of opinions and thoughts" (74%), and as "a source of indispensable information for daily life" (74%). Although the highest number of respondents continued to appreciate its usefulness in information gathering, just as in the previous three surveys, the overall ratings in many of the other categories are on the decline (Figure 8).

Figure 8 Value of TV

In the past 15 years, the number of those who appreciate TV as "a topic for conversation with family members" has declined from 70% to 65%. No significant change is seen among respondents in their 30's and 40's, who are probably parents, but rather the decrease is observed mainly in the younger age brackets and the older stratums over age 50 (Figure 9). Along with the aforementioned increase in those who "prefer watching TV alone," this result confirms a solitary TV-viewing trend.
Many of those in the older age brackets valued TV as a "provider of examples for life-style and behavior." Figure 10 shows a breakdown of these results by birth year, just as was done for attitudes regarding TV commercials. The graphs from the two surveys, 1985 and 2000, are approximately the same shape, indicating that this attitude has not changed for any given generation in many years. The graph is a straight line rising to the right, showing a trend of gradually decreasing total averages across generations (47%43%). These trends reveal a decrease in the conventional sense of the usefulness and effectiveness of TV.

Figure 9 Conversation Topic with Family Members

Figure 10 Provider of Examples for Life-style and Behavior (By Birth Year)

Dissatisfaction with TV increases in those over 45
In terms of how satisfied people are with TV, 78% of the respondents replied they were "satisfied (fully or fairly satisfied), and 19% were "dissatisfied (fully or fairly dissatisfied)" (Figure 11). A higher dissatisfaction rate is seen in respondents in their 40's and 50's.
Compared with the 1985 survey, no change is observed in the age brackets from 16 to the early 40's. A decline in "satisfied" respondents and an increase in "dissatisfied" respondents is seen in those over 45 (Figure 12).

Figure 11 Degree of Satisfaction with TV

Figure 12 Degree of Satisfaction with TV (By Age Bracket)

Although no relationship was established between "dissatisfaction" with TV and TV-viewing time or the variety of media the respondents have contact with, many of those with a negative response toward TV listed the "newspaper" as their indispensable medium, and wanted more "culture" in broadcasting (Table 2). This result may show that those who are fond of the printed media, and are keenly interested in acquiring knowledge and cultural enhancement, have a higher rate of dissatisfaction with TV. No difference was observed with regard to any major broadcasters (NHK and key commercial broadcasters).

Table 2 Degree of Satisfaction with TV

Increase in the importance of TV has stopped
When the respondents were asked to describe what TV means to them, the number of those saying that it was "indispensable" had increased from 37% in 1985 to 43% in 1995. This percentage remains the same (43%) in the 2000 survey (Figure 13).
While many in the younger age stratum, in their 20's and 30's, replied that TV is "no more than a convenience," results from this time-series survey show that the number of those who regard TV as "indispensable" is gradually increasing (Figure 14). The percentage of those who said that TV is "indispensable" to them is also increasing in the older stratum, especially those over 60.

Figure 13 Importance of TV

Figure 14 Importance of TV (By Age Bracket)

Increased expectations of "cultural enhancement"
Questions were asked regarding what types of programming the respondents expect to see most often. They were asked to choose between "news reports," "entertainment," and "cultural programs."*
The ratio between the most popular answers was the same as in the previous three surveys, 42% of the respondents listed "news reports" and 37% chose "entertainment." The minority who want "cultural programs" rose from 15% in 1995 to 19% in the recent 2000 survey (Figure 15).

Figure 15 Most Desirable TV Programs

As seen in Figure 5, categories most often watched included "cultural programs," "political, economic, and social affairs programs," "how-to programs," and "variety shows." Past audience surveys have revealed that the popular programs are often those presented in the form of a quiz or a drama in order to satisfy intellectual interest and curiosity in an enjoyable way.
It is supposed that this increased demand for "cultural programming" is based more on a desire for enjoyable programs that satisfy curiosity than on a desire to gain real knowledge and cultural enhancement.

*News: Programs reporting world events and trends.
Entertainment: Programs viewers can enjoy at leisure.
Culture: Programs for acquiring knowledge and culture.

(4) NHK and Commercial Broadcasters

An increase in those who watch NHK more than commercial broadcasters
Among major stations, the respondents who "mainly watch NHK" gradually decreased from 1985 to 1995. However, the 2000 survey showed an increase to 14%, from 11% in 1995 (Figure 16). The percentage of those who "watch NHK more than commercial broadcasters (mainly or slightly more)," seems to increase with age. A comparison within the same generation is seen in Figure 17. In this 15-year period, people 55 or older (born in or before 1944) show a preference for NHK programming. There is no significant change for people younger than 54 (born in 1945 and after).

Figure 16 Viewing Habits Regarding NHK and Commercial Broadcast Stations

Figure 17 Viewing Habits Regarding NHK and Commercial Broadcast Stations (By Birth Year)

While the percentage of people who "watch commercial stations (mainly or slightly more)" increased from 1985 (53%) to 1995 (60%), the percentage from the current survey remains about the same as it was in 1995 (58%) (Figure 16).
In terms of an evaluation of NHK and commercial broadcasters' programming, the fields that people feel strongly about in both areas of programming have not changed. Many appreciated NHK's news reports and cultural programs, and commercial broadcasters' entertainment programs (Table 3).
The high marks given to NHK were due to its "quick response to accidents, incidents, and natural disasters" (54%) and its "interesting cultural programs(48%)." Positive evaluation of its "neutrality and public nature of news programs" also increased from 31% to 35% in the 2000 survey (Table 3).

Many feel an "absolute" need for NHK

Figure 18 Need for NHK and Commercial Broadcasters

2 TV among the Media

The media environment surrounding people has been enriched in quantity and quality. This indicates that the range of available media that individuals can utilize according to their needs is expanding, and this change is influencing individual media use behavior.

(1) Advancing multimedia environment

Variety of media devices increases
The respondents were asked about their possession of 18 different items of media equipment widely used or likely to be used in the near future by Japanese households (5 new items were added to the previous 13 used until the 1995 survey)(Figure 19). ("Possession" means that the equipment is in the household, not necessarily owned solely by the respondent.) First of all, "home VCRs," that were owned by only one in three households in the 1985 survey, have now been diffused to 91% of all households. Additionally, the five years from 1995 to 2000 reveal the diffusion of "25-inch or larger TV" sets and "wide screen TVs" due to the recent changes in TV hardware that have encouraged people to replace their older TV sets. On the other hand, some items such as "video disks (laser disks)," "video game systems," and "CD players," which had already been diffused to a certain extent by 1995, showed no significant percentage increase in diffusion. The percentage of those possessing a "personal computer/word processor" has steadily increased commensurate to the popularization of the Internet, exceeding half of the total households surveyed.
Furthermore, there was a remarkable diffusion in "cellular phones/PHSs," which were one of the items newly added to the 2000 survey, with 70% of the respondents replying that their household possesses one. Generally, a new medium becomes popular first among youth, making it notable that the cellular phone has diffused to almost all households surveyed in a mere five years since its market appearance.

Figure 19 Ownership of Media Equipment

20% Frequently watched "10 channels or more" of commercial stations
The expansion of the media environment is also advancing within the TV medium itself. The most common number of available commercial channels according to 21% of the respondents was "10 or more." It is thought that the environment in which more than 10 commercial stations are available is realized through cable TV subscriptions or digital CS broadcasting. Digital satellite broadcasting by broadcasting satellites (BS) is going to be launched in December this year. At that time, the home multi-channel environment is expected to enter a new era of full-scale expansion.
The percentage of households owning multiple TV sets showed a steady increase, with 49% of households having "3 or more" TVs, almost the majority.

(2) Diversity in Media Contacts
In order to ascertain people's use of various media, including TV, newspapers, and the Internet, we queried them about the frequency of their contact with each medium and classified the responses using four frequency rates: "daily," "once or twice a week," "three or four times a week," and "once or twice a month."

Stable use of TV and a gradual decrease in newspaper use
Television is a medium that 95% of the people surveyed use daily, a percentage that has been steadily maintained since 1985. There is no special significance or difference attributable to age or gender. Although 86% of the respondents still read the newspaper daily, which is the other major mass media, the percentage has gradually decreased during the past 15 years (91%86%). One factor which has influenced this trend is that among both genders the newspaper has lost readers in their 20's and younger (Figure 20). The percentage for the age bracket with the least newspaper readers in the 1985 survey, women 60 or older, has increased as women in their 40's and 50's with the newspaper reading habit have now shifted into this higher age bracket. By any measure, it can not be denied that the newspaper reading stratum is generally aging.
Like the newspaper, radio is another medium where the percentages have fallen in the younger strata, and the age bracket with the most frequent contact is shifting toward the older strata. The 1990 survey showed that the stratum with the highest percentage of listeners was men in their 30's and women in their 40's. The 2000 survey indicates that this peak has shifted to listeners in their 50's for both genders.

Figure 20 Contact Frequency for Newspaper (Daily)

Videotapes and CDs established as "home information appliances"

Figure 21 Contact Frequency for VCR (Regularly)

1) "The Japanese and Television 1990: (1)"
Refer to the NHK Monthly Report on Broadcast Research, August 1990 issue.
*1: "Regular" use includes "daily," "once or twice a week," and "three or four times a week."

15% use the Internet "once or twice a week" and more
For the first time, this survey asked about the frequency of Internet use. Nineteen percent of the respondents have used the Internet at least once. Among these, 15% use the Internet more than "once or twice a week," and half of this group (8% of the total respondents) said that they use the Internet "daily."(Figure 22)

Figure 22 Contact Frequency for the Internet

Figure 23 Importance of the Internet

Use is still limited by age and gender, with more men than women being users, and mainly men in their 20's to 50's who are clerical/technical workers, business executives, or students. A correlation might be made between use of the Internet and work or education.
These Internet users highly value it, with more than half regarding the Internet as indispensable, responding that they feel the that Internet is "indispensable for daily life," or that it would be "difficult to do without it" (Figure 23). Even 45% of those who have never used the Internet felt that "it would be convenient if it were available." This type of response was particularly seen in women from their teens to 40's.

(3) Advancing specialization of media use and television
We asked questions regarding the most useful medium, among various media, in relation to seven function categories^*2, including "news" and "entertainment."

Various relative positions for TV based on function

Figure 24 Useful Media

*2<News> for learning about world events or trends
<Entertainment> for amusement and leisure
<Culture> for acquiring culture
<Practical use> for obtaining information concerning life or leisure activities
<Commentary> for thinking over of political or social problems
<Comfort> for being comforted or for relaxing
<Interpersonal exchange> for deepening and expanding friendships
*3 "Printed media" includes "weekly magazine," "town journal/information magazine," and "books"
"AV-type media" includes "radio," "recording disk/tape/CD/MD," and "movie/video software."
"Conversation" includes "talk within the family" and "talk with friends" (including conversations over the phone)
"Others" includes "the Internet," etc.

Characteristic comparison of mass media and the Internet
Besides comparing the sense of usefulness and effectiveness by function, under the theme, "Acquiring Reliable News and Information," we asked the respondents to rate the easiest medium to use in four core categories.^*4
The characteristics chosen were rather basic features, and the responses were roughly split between "TV" and the "newspaper." The areas in which TV showed its advantages were promptness and understandability, and the respondents felt that the newspaper was superior for detail (Figure 25). On the other hand, although it does not belong to the mass media, we added a new media item, "the Internet," to identify its media characteristics. While the total number of "Internet" responses was low, they have already reached 13% in the category of selectivity. For this, as seen in Table 4, we used only the respondents who have ever used the Internet, to compare four characteristics of three media; TV, newspapers, and the Internet. Those who have used the Internet evaluated it as having the highest selectivity among the media presented, exceeding TV and newspapers. The Internet did not score as highly for detail and promptness, and Internet users rarely chose understandability. These results seem to indicate that the convenience of the Internet for its users lies mostly in its easy access to desired information. Probably because it is based on textual information for both websites and e-mail, its understandability is not competitive with the visual media.

*4<Promptness> delivering information quickly.
<Understandability> delivering information in the easiest manner to understand.
<Detail> presenting the most detailed information.
<Selectivity> being able to select only the information needed in the easiest manner.

Figure 25 Media Characteristics

Table 4 Media Characteristic Comparison (Internet Users) TV Newspaper Internet Promptness 72 (82) 2 (2) 9 (3) Understandability 66 (69) 27 (23) 2 (0) Detail 24 (37) 57 (51) 11 (3) Selectivity 17 (38) 30 (33) 43 (13) Internet users=681 (): figure by grand total %

(4) Time-series change in media use
The advance in media functions over the last 15 years is remarkable. In this latest survey, we adjusted some of the questions that had been used until the 1995 survey. In order to carry out a conventional time-series comparison using the exact same questions, a portion of the samples (1,800 respondents) was selected for investigation using the unchanged survey. The following comparative analysis is based on the data from this time-series survey. The survey uses five out of the seven above-mentioned functions, excluding comfort and interpersonal exchange. The respondents were asked to choose the most useful medium from among those listed.

Recovery of newspapers' popularity
Except for a gradual decline in the entertainment function since 1985, "TV" has maintained stable popularity in our time-series analysis. One noticeable point is that in the 2000 survey, "newspaper," which had shown a decline in popularity until the 1995 survey, began to recover, especially in the news and commentary sections (Table 5).
Differences in gender and age classification are as follows: In the commentary section, men in their 30's to 50's evaluate the newspaper more highly than in 1995, exceeding "TV" in this regard. For the news function, women in their 30's to 60's also showed an increasing preference for the newspaper, compared with a declining preference for the TV (Table 6). Among women in the 50's, the same tendency is observed for the practical use function ("newspaper": 18% in 1995 to 28% in 2000). This greater evaluation of newspapers in directly related to TV's decreasing satisfaction rate (Table 7) and can be viewed as being inversely proportional to people's satisfaction with TV.

Table 5 Useful Media (Time-series; In Descending Order from the Highest Rate)

Table 6 Media Use Comparison (1995-2000, By Gender/Age)

Table 7 Degree of Satisfaction with TV and Evaluation of Newspapers

Regarding newspaper trends, it was mentioned earlier that newspaper readers are decreasing and the reader stratum is aging. On the other hand, readers of middle to advanced age may appreciate the effort that newspapers have made to improve their services by using full-color printing, providing useful information for daily life, and recently changing to a more reader-friendly layout and contents.

Changing position of television in the family

Figure 26 Indispensable Media (Time-series)

3 Changing views on information and mass communications

We have covered the survey results from the viewpoint of TV and the use of other media; in this section, we will review viewers' opinions and attitudes regarding information and mass communications.

(1) No significant change in views on information

Figure 27 Information Quantity

Figure 28 Don't Want to Spend Much Money on Information

(2) Changing view of media
We also investigated people's viewpoints of mass communication such as television and newspapers. The decline in people who "believe that mass media generally reports the truth," continued, falling to 29%, putting those who do not believe so in the majority (Figure 29). Although this tendency is especially noticeable in the younger stratum, it has also spread to most other age groups in the past 15 years including the middle to advanced age stratums.
Most recognize the influential power of mass media, as seen in the further increase of respondents who believe that their opinions are affected by mass media without their realizing it. This has risen from 73% in 1985 to 79% in the latest 2000 survey.
On the other hand, a fluctuation continued to be observed across most age brackets in the percentage that believe that "TV makes viewers feel as if they are actually on the scene." The number that felt that way (39%) almost equaled the percentage (42%) of those who do not feel a sense of reality from TV (Figure 30). This calls into question the truthfulness of the view that, "seeing is believing."
It could be theorized that in addition to the changes in visual expression brought about by CG and easily reproduced video material, people's perception of the information presented by the media has been effected by their exposure to an increasing volume of information flowing from a wide variety of media sources, including newspapers information magazines, and the Internet.

Figure 29 Mass Media Generally Reports the Truth

Figure 30 TV Makes Viewers Feel as If They Are Actually on the Scene

(3) The influence of TV: Many cannot evaluate it
Starting with the previous survey (1995), six items were added to measure whether TV has a positive or a negative influence. Many responded that it was "hard to determine which" (29% to 52%: Table 8). This response was included in the selection for those cases where respondents found it difficult to answer, and include both cases where people do not know if it is influential, and cases in which they do not know if the influence is positive or negative. The fact that many chose this response indicates the difficulty of evaluating the influence of TV.
The only items where a significant change was observed from the 1995 survey were in the categories of whether TV "promotes juvenile delinquency and violence" and whether it "helps people take more interest in politics and social problems." A slight decline was seen for the statement, "refines the language."

Table 8 Influence of TV

Figure 31 TV Promotes Juvenile Delinquency

This response has probably been influenced by the occurrence of many shocking, violent crimes committed by juveniles in the past several years. Regardless of whether delinquency really has been induced by the influence of TV, juvenile violence is actually on the rise. This survey result seems to indicate that some of those who recognize the increase in violence connect the change with TV broadcasting.
In this regard, the same explanation can be applied to the decrease in those who believe that TV "helps people to take more interest in politics and social problems"(7163%). As the number of people with no party affiliation becomes larger, reflecting an indifference to political and social issues, some feel, whether correctly or otherwise, that some of the blame for this trend must be attributed to television.
Presently, in view of the fact that, one way or another, TV is involved in various aspects of people's lives, it is not unreasonable to suppose that TV has some influence on current social trends. Although there is a tendency to connect TV to major social phenomena, such as the rise of juvenile delinquency, it is only one of the factors promoting such large problems, making it difficult to grasp exactly how TV affects such trends. In any case, the subject cannot be dealt with through a few questions in a survey, but must be addressed as a problem for through future investigation. Whether TV has a negative influence on youth or not, the fact remains that an increasing number of people feel that it does.

Conclusion

We have reviewed changes in TV-viewing habits since 1985, focusing on the results by age stratum. The history of television broadcasting is reaching the half-century mark in Japan and many viewers have been watching television for 20 or 30 years, thereby acquiring different opinions and habits regarding TV. Furthermore, the number of viewers using TV remote controls since before they could even talk has been increasing. We have also seen the Internet appear on the scene with the potential of developing into a medium for everyday use equivalent to the TV.
Although it seems clear that television will retain the most significant position among the available media in the future, further changes in its role and position in people's lives are very possible. The mission of this NHK "The Japanese and Television" time-series survey is to track these ongoing changes in the media industry.

Sample Composition