InterBEE REVIEW2016

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27There were extremely large differences among the students regarding new services like AbemaTV and Netflix. While some of their responses praised AbemaTV with opinions including “I was happy that they showed the Japan Series”, “I found out about them because of their anime marathons”, and “I like that they show live music concerts”, there was also a remark that “Many people just have it installed but never use it.” Regarding SVOD services, comments such as “People I know who like foreign drama shows use Netflix”, “People who like Korean programs watch them on U-NEXT”, and “dTV is good since it lets you download when you use it” showed that different services are being used depending on user preferences.When the students were asked about what drama series they enjoy watching, their responses showed an unexpectedly wide range including “Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu”, “Jimi ni Sugoi! Koetsu Girl”, “Sukina Hito ga Iru Koto”, and “Yusha Yoshihiko”, with each person being closely dedicated to his or her favor-ites. The quality of “familiarity” was raised as a factor contributing to favorable recep-tion by young people, with students want-ing to watch programs if they feature a place they have been to themselves, and in turn becoming interested in visiting places that they have seen in drama programs.Individual Preferences in Viewing with Paid Video Delivery ServicesWhen Mr. Harada asked the students if they had any suggestions to give to TV stations, the answers were very intriguing. Broadly summarized, it appears that the main request is for a higher level of participation in TV programs. There were many comments such as “The comedy performance program where viewers could cast votes was a lot of fun”, “I’m happy when I can get excited and into a show”, and “It would be nice if there were programs that use our opinions for refer-ence”, and even just displaying Twitter comments during a program seems to make a large difference in its impression. Regarding this, Mr. Harada explained that the young people of today have an awareness of themselves as a “minority”. They are well aware that the majority of the elements in mainstream culture differ from those in their own lives, giving them the impression that they belong to a minority group. This leads to feelings of dissatisfaction, such as when they see a decrease in the number of programs featuring performing idols and therefore do not know what the latest trends are. Programs that had a position of being specifically targeted toward the young segment have all but disappeared, and it is likely that the feeling of being unable to participate in things that are currently popular is widening the distance between television and young people. However, it was also clearly understood that the students do have a strong interest in dramas and variety programs, and so there is a feeling that gaining favor is mainly depen-dent on the methods used. It may be said that the most important point is for televi-sion stations themselves to have a strong interest in the lives of today’s young people. Strong Sense of being a MinorityMs. Risa Aburai Faculty of Law 2nd grade, Meiji Gakuin University The five students participating in this session consisted of Mr. Ono, Mr. Maeda, and Mr. Matsui from Keio University, Mr. Katsuyama from Waseda University, and Ms. Aburai from Meiji Gakuin University. Mr. Harada, serving as moderator, directed the session by posing questions related to television and media contents to the students in turn, and asking each of them to answer. In response to the first question “Do you watch TV?” all of the students unexpectedly answered “Yes”, with details such as watching TV with their parents since they live at home, or watching TV when they get bored since they live alone. Yet upon closer ques-tioning, further responses including “I don’t really know what’s on, on which day” or “I hear about interesting programs from friends and then try to look for them on YouTube” showed that they did not have active television-viewing habits and instead often only watched the sections of programs that they wanted to see on YouTube.Continuing on with questions about TVer, although some of the students were not aware of it, in general it seemed that they knew of its existence. However, asking more detailed questions prompted replies such as “I don’t use it since I don’t keep up with current programs” and “I don’t use TVer since I just watch the parts I want to see on YouTube”.Watching TV on YouTube