The Japanese government has revived legislation designed to tighten controls over foreign ownership of broadcasting companies.
A bill to give effect to this was submitted to the Diet, but lost as a result of the recent general election.
On Friday, the Cabinet finalized a second bill to revise the relevant laws, and it will be submitted to the Diet shortly.
“The prospective amendments will take into account the ownership ratio by domestic companies which are owned and under the control of foreign companies when the foreign ownership is calculated for broadcasting companies,” explains Yoshiaki Shibouta, an SVP with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation in Tokyo. “At present, there are no such provisions or articles in the relevant laws or regulations. We assume that there will be no significant changes from the previous bill.”