NHK is set to be in the red for the third straight year in fiscal 2025, after a cut in its viewing fees in October 2023, it was learned Wednesday.
According to its budget for fiscal 2025, released on the day, the public broadcaster will post a deficit of ¥40 billion in the year from April. The deficit is smaller than ¥57 billion in the fiscal 2024 budget.
NHK will make up the shortfall by using reserve funds. It is rushing to implement structural reform to overcome the fee cut and make ends meet in fiscal 2027.
For fiscal 2025, NHK estimated operating revenues at ¥603.4 billion, up 0.2% from the previous year, with income from the viewing fees, which accounts for most of its operating revenues, down 0.2%, reflecting a decline in the number of subscribers.
Meanwhile, operating expenditures were put at ¥643.4 billion, down 2.4%, as a result of a review of program production costs.
NHK has formally adopted revisions to its business plan for fiscal 2024 to 2026, after the broadcasting law was revised to make its online distribution of programs mandatory from October 2025.
The fiscal 2025 budget includes ¥18 billion for the online distribution, below the existing ceiling of ¥20 billion. But it separately includes ¥2.9 billion for related preparations such as app development.
NHK President Nobuo Inaba told a news conference that such separate funds will not be necessary every year.
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