Is “DayDay.” OK? The biggest reason why a wide variety show bomb is “Failure in choosing the main MC”.

The choice of Ryota Yamasato of Nankai Candies as the main MC of “DayDay.”, the successor to NTV’s “Sukkiri”, is a very solid choice. To be frank, it is not that flashy. However, I think that NTV has made a “choice not to miss” to the extent that it seems to have “gone for it” in a sense.

There is one “absolutely necessary condition” for a wide show MC. That is “to be flamboyant and to be able to work behind the scenes.

Since the MC is the face of the show, he or she must be spectacular in order to get viewer ratings. However, since it is a wide-ranging show, the program will not last long unless it is able to successfully complement the “daily topics” and “guests invited to the studio”, run the program, and create the “atmosphere and worldview of the program” to establish itself as a “comprehensively interesting program”.

If a celebrity with too much flair becomes the MC, it becomes “his/her show. The topics to be covered and the guests will become hazy. In this sense, in fact, the most suitable MC for a wide-ranging program is either a comedian who is not too flamboyant or an announcer who is universally liked.

A comedian who is too flamboyant is too funny, too conspicuous, and cannot “erase himself and go behind the scenes. Announcers are professionals in the “behind-the-scenes” role, but they are no good unless they are “universally likable” because they lack flair.

Looking around from this perspective, the main MCs of successful wide-ranging programs are usually either comedians who are not too flamboyant or announcers who are universally liked, such as Shinichiro Azumi, Shinichi Hatori, Akira Kawashima of Kirin, Toshiaki Megumi of Honjamaka, Seiji Miyane, and Yoko Oshita.

Ryota Yamasato is the perfect choice. Moreover, he is the voice of “Sukkiri” and will carry on the “Sukkiri Color” well, so there is no one better suited for the job. As one would expect from NTV, which has a solid corporate culture, I am impressed by the shrewdness of this move.

In fact, there is a major reason why the choice of a main MC for a wide-ranging TV show must be “solid,” even if it is not Nippon TV. It is a choice that cannot be beaten.

Wide shows and news programs can be rebuilt as much as possible, no matter how shoddy the planning or how shoddy the staff, as long as the main MC is chosen correctly.

The plan can be revised by making daily adjustments, and the staff can be trained and replaced. Even if a “band program” looks bad at first, it can turn into a major success with the right opportunity if steady, step-by-step improvements are made.

Conversely, if the main MC is chosen incorrectly, it is already too late and game over, no matter how much effort is made later.

TV people usually think, “Is this MC in trouble? When they think, “Is this MC in trouble?”, they try to “prolong the life” of the show by bringing in a stronger performer, changing the plan or direction, changing the set, replacing the broadcaster, etc. However, in my experience, no show has ever revived despite a not-so-great MC.

However, in my experience, there has never been a revival of a program with an inadequate MC, and the “tragedy of the bomb” is always waiting.

Let me introduce two tragedies I experienced during my time at TV Asahi, which were caused by “failure in MC selection. I believe it is a good idea to avoid repeating the same mistake as a lesson to others by looking at examples of how “careless selection of MCs” led to tragic “tragedies of bombings and deaths.

Tragedy of the bombing (1): The case of Mr. Junichi Ishida of “Super J Channel

Young readers may think, “Really? but did you know that the first main MC of TV Asahi’s evening news program “Super J Channel” was Mr. Junichi Ishida?

Although TV Asahi does not officially acknowledge it, it was widely rumored within the company that “J of Super J Channel is Junichi’s J.” The program ran for only one year from March 31, 1997, so it is not surprising that many people did not know about it.

It is also surprising that the main MC on Fridays was Masashi Tashiro. What kind of criteria did they use to select the MC for a news program?　One thing I can say for a fact is that Mr. Junichi Ishida was related to a very important person in TV Asahi’s news bureau at that time.

After that, “Super J Channel” was finally able to start on the road to revival by changing the MC to Etsuko Komiya, then a popular sub-MC of “News Station,” and by making a fresh start as “almost a different program” with a drastically changed staff and a new producer, but even so, the program was still left behind other stations for many years. However, it was still left behind other stations for many years. It took many years for it to reach the top of the ratings, so it is fair to speak of it as a surprising case of “bombing out.

To put it differently, Mr. Junichi Ishida was a very “nice guy” and very popular with the staff. And it goes without saying that Mr. Ishida is a versatile and wonderful TV personality. It’s just that he was somehow not the right choice for the main MC of a news program.

Tragedy of the Bombing #2: The Case of “Super Morning”‘s Gin Maeda

Young readers may think, “Really? but the main MC of “Super Morning,” which used to be aired in the slot of “The Shinichi Hatori Morning Show,” now the leading morning wide show, was once Gin Maeda, an actor known for his roles in the “Otoko wa Tsuraiyo” series and others.

The whole TV Asahi team was astonished, not to exaggerate, at this casting. The author himself was shocked, saying, “Gin Maeda? What? I vividly remember a senior news reporter exclaiming with his eyes peeled back, “Where did you hear about that? Why did they use Mr. Gin Maeda?　The exact reason is still not known, but there is a rumor (still) whispered within TV Asahi that the wife of a very important person at that time was a fan of Ms. Gin Maeda.

And “Gin Maeda’s name” is forbidden (still) among TV Asahi’s wide-show people.

After only six months from April to September 2002, “Mr. Gin Maeda’s Super Morning” came to an end. This program was the producer debut of the ace director who was called “Mr. Morning” at the time, but the “talented information program producer” left Morning after this, and it is still talked about among those involved as “Gin Maeda’s shock.

Needless to say, this is not in the least bit Maeda Gin’s fault. It was simply that he was not suited to be the MC of a wide-ranging TV show. Failure to choose a main MC is always a tragedy that cannot be undone. Therefore, I would like to commend NTV for their shrewdness in choosing a solid MC for “DayDay.