Let a hundred channels contend: Technological change, political opening, and bureaucratic priorities in Japanese television broadcasting

In the mid-1990s, the cozy oligopoly and restrictive regulatory system governing Japanese television broadcasting gave way to an influx of new channels and programmers, including Rupert Murdoch, Time-Warner, and other foreigners. The confluence of rapid technological change, interministerial competition, and partial political opening caused the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications to reorder its priorities. The ministry retained significant discretionary influence over the allocation of licenses, standard setting, and technology promotion, but crafted a more competitive and transparent regulatory process. The Japanese broadcasting case suggests that technological advances may prod even conservative ministries motivated largely by bureaucratic self-interest to incorporate market opening in their regulatory strategies.