Viewers to get nonstop reminder of analog TV's end

Broadcasters plan to display the word "analog" on television screens starting in the summer to remind viewers they will need new equipment when analog broadcasts end in 2011, sources said.

Equipment that can receive terrestrial digital broadcasts, which will completely replace analog programs that year, has spread to only about 28 percent of all households in Japan, they said.

A senior communications ministry official said the plan to end analog broadcasts is not widely known in rural areas, so broadcasters plan to show the superimposition.

Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) and commercial broadcasters are considering starting the "analog" display on July 24, exactly three years before the transfer to the terrestrial digital broadcasts, they said.

The plan will be announced soon during a meeting of the communications ministry's committee that discusses issues related to terrestrial digital broadcasts.

A national council consisting of NHK, commercial broadcasters and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is currently working out a plan to phase out analog broadcasts.

The "analog" message will appear for a certain period and could also contain words such as, "Analog broadcasts will end on July 24, 2011."

The superimpositions will remain on TV programs recorded on videotapes or discs.

Commercial broadcasters plan to show the superimpositions even during commercials, although advertisers may oppose.

"It is not known whether advertisers will accept the display of the superimpositions on their commercials," an executive of a major commercial broadcaster said.

NHK has displayed superimpositions, including "NHK G" for its "NHK General" channel, on its terrestrial digital broadcasts since December 2003. There is a possibility the public broadcaster could show "analog" before the commercial broadcasters.

According to a survey in March 2007, 14 million households had equipment to receive terrestrial digital broadcasts. The figure is expected to rise to about 24 million when the Beijing Summer Games are held.

The ministry and the broadcasters want all 50 million households in Japan to have the equipment by April 2011.

But problems remain over how low-income households will be able to afford the more expensive equipment and what to do with 6.5 million households living in areas where terrestrial digital broadcasts are difficult to receive.(IHT/Asahi: April 19,2008)