Is this the “Fuji TV Renaissance” that President Minato has been advocating? Fuji TV Employees’ True Thoughts on the New Variety Program

I joined Fuji Television in 1976. It was a bright, fun and energetic company. I spoke to all the employees to revive that DNA. From the 1980s, Fuji Television was a triple crown winner in terms of viewer ratings. The motto, ‘If it’s not fun, it’s not TV,’ remains unchanged today. The company’s origins lie in monozukuri (the art of making things).

Fuji Television’s President Koichi Minato, 70, who took office in June of last year, loudly called for the “restoration of variety programs” at his first regular meeting, and young employees who had been feeling a sense of stagnation were greatly inspired. At the time, an employee in his 30s at Fuji Television said, “Fuji Television has been changing its programs.

Fuji Television has been shouting “reform” as a slogan every time it revamps its programs, and as a first step, in 2006 and 2009, it invited employees over 50 years of age to take early retirement. However, the direction of the bureau remained elusive.

The appointment of President Minato to the position of president was well received by the younger employees, who said, “This is reform! The young employees are quite excited about the new president, saying, “This is reform! In other words, he has made it clear that from now on, “We are going to be the Fuji TV of variety! This means that Fuji Television has made its policy clear: “From now on, we are going to be the Fuji Television of variety! With this, Fuji TV can finally change. But there is also an atmosphere of mixed expectations and anxiety, as if to say, ‘If we don’t change, this will be the end of us.

Six months have passed since then. How do the employees feel about the current situation? Another employee in his thirties said, “This is what President Minato is talking about.

Another employee in his 30s said, “I wonder if this is the ‘Fuji TV renaissance’ that President Minato is talking about. Frankly, I am nervous.

The cause of the tension among the employees is the new programs “Pokapoka” and “Nitamono 3gumi,” which began in January.

Poka Poka” is a new program that is based on the same theme as “Laugh It Away! and “Viking,” and targets the F2 demographic (women aged 35-49) and M2 demographic (men aged 35-49), the generation in the middle of the television market. The three MCs were Yuuki Iwai and Tasuku Sawabe from the comedian Haraiichi, and freelance announcer Aika Kanda. In addition, the show surprised viewers by casting Rei Shirakawa (20), the second daughter of former yokozuna Takanohana and former Fuji Television announcer Keiko Kono, as a regular on Mondays, which would be her debut in the entertainment industry.

On the other hand, “Nitamono 3 Gumi” is a new type of variety show that gathers three celebrities who have similar characters (i.e., three groups of “Nitamono”) and enjoys seeing what kind of chemical reactions will occur when the three go on location alone. In the first episode, Nadar from “Korokoro Chiki Chiki Peppers,” Tomoshige from “Mogrider,” and Michio from “Tom Brown” served as MCs.

President Minato’s order was, “Let’s just try anything we find interesting. In the past, if a plan submitted by a young employee was rejected at an organization meeting, it would be put on hold, but now there is a system where the president looks over all rejected plans at least once. That’s why it was understandable that we decided on a cast that we couldn’t have predicted. Still, I thought it was very aggressive.

Another mid-career employee said, “It’s a renaissance.

The president’s will that “since this is a renaissance, ‘we can’t reform unless we abolish everything that has already existed and start from scratch’ was very clear to me. In the first broadcast, he suddenly announced that the three-hour program would be shortened to two hours starting in April. I think this was a message that until March, the program was just an experiment, and that he would do everything he wanted to do, and from April, based on that experience, he would present a more condensed and brushed-up version. I think that’s the message.

Although it is an “experimental period,” it is clear that they want to capture the viewers’ attention during the three months until March.

It’s true that the times are different from the days of “Laugh It Away! It is not easy to make a regular daily guest like Matsuko Deluxe, who appeared on January 10 and was well received by viewers. Of course, if the ratings don’t go up, we won’t be able to keep this up. However, the motivation of the employees is really high, so I think we will see more and more new projects from now on.

The future of Fuji Television’s renaissance is up in the air.