Japan Media Review Update: November 10, 2003

JMR Staff (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California)

Review
The following reviews are posted at: http://www.japanmediareview.org/japan/digest/digest.php

Researchers in Japan Claim World Record Speed in Internet Transmission
A group of scientists from Keio University and NTT, Japan's largest telecommunications firm, were able to reach a world record data transmission speed of 43 gigabits per second, reports CNETAsia. NTT said in a statement that the transmission of a DVD movie file took less than a second between one Keio campus to another 20 kilometers away. By contrast, last month a European and American research team transmitted a file the size of a full-length DVD movie in 7 seconds and at a wider range of more than 7,000 kilometers.
-- By Japan Media Review Contributing Writer Sunny Yu

Opinion: Japanese Bribery Scandal Illustrates Broadcasters' Obsession With Ratings
In response to the Nippon TV ratings bribery scandal last month, in which a producer of variety specials paid monitors to watch his shows, Japan Times reporter Philip Brasor said commercial television in Japan is so dictated by ratings that producers think of nothing else. Because program quality is completely irrelevant in the industry, ratings manipulation is the only way a producer can get a salary raise, he said in a Media Mix column. The ratings system is easily exploited because there are only 2,400 households acting as monitors and rumors are swirling that this kind of bribery is actually common, he added.
-- By Japan Media Review Contributing Writer Helen Baek