TV Tokyo’s “Female Announcer” has surpassed Fuji’s “President” by being a two-timing “president” of the company.

The December 12 issue of Shukan Post reported a love scandal involving TV Tokyo’s Kakutani Akiko. Although there seems to be no problem since they are both single, there are whispers within the station that she is in danger of being dropped as a regular.

Even though she is single, it would not be good for her image if her two-timing relationship became so public,” said a source at Teletext.

So says an insider from TV TOKYO. She is currently one of the station’s signature announcers, appearing on such programs as “World Business Satellite (WBS)” and “Pittari ni Nichiyo Chaplin” and performing a wide range of duties from news reporting to variety shows.

According to the article, Kakutani was dating Mr. A, the chairman of a medical corporation that operates several clinics, and Mr. B, a man in his 30s who runs an investment company, at about the same time. Moreover, she was photographed on a date with Mr. A at a high-end jewelry store. It is quite possible that she will be dropped from WBS, the station’s flagship program, regardless of whether it is a variety show or not…” (TV TOKYO insider)

Until a decade ago, scandals involving female announcers were the exclusive domain of Fuji Television.

The one who created the “female announcer boom” was undoubtedly Fuji Television. Fuji Television in the 1980s, with its slogan, “If it’s not fun, it’s not TV,” was running on a fast-paced course, coupled with the bubble economy.

In the midst of this, female TV announcers who had traditionally read news scripts or made serious reports began to appear on variety shows in droves. The gap between their “highly educated and innocent” and “mischievous” personalities soon captivated men.

Michiko Yamamura, Rieko Terada, and Tomoko Nagano, who started the boom of female announcers, were called “hyokin” announcers and gained popularity. Fuji has since produced a succession of announcers who are as good as celebrities, including the “00-pan” series represented by Aya Takashima, a.k.a. “Ayapan”.

Naturally, they also attracted more attention than the other stations, but as Fuji’s viewership ratings declined, so did the attention paid to them.

Speaking of Fuji’s female announcers, Yui Suzuki and actor Masaki Okada were romantically linked in 2009. Akiko Kuji, who left the company in April of this year, made headlines in May when she announced her marriage to NBA basketball player Yuta Watanabe.

However, TV TOKYO, to which Kakutani, the “two-timing” announcer, belongs, has been “belatedly” attracting attention for its female announcers.

Three years ago, Reina Sumi was reported to have had an affair with a senior announcer and went independent the following year. In 2008, conversations between female announcers in the announcer’s office were leaked on Twitter.

Moreover, a series of remarks making fun of the staff and slandering the senior announcer who quit the station caused a huge firestorm on the Internet. And now this two-timing report on Kakutani…. TV TOKYO’s female announcers are now far outnumbering those of other stations in terms of their crazy antics,” said a sports newspaper reporter.

It was a long time ago when TV TOKYO was ridiculed for its viewer ratings. The fact that the female TV announcers are the talk of the town means that the station itself is attracting attention….