How Hikaru Ota’s election special drew a flood of criticism, but was praised by TBS

For the first time, he hosted a special election program for the House of Representatives election held on October 31, “Election Day 2021: Our Mirai with Hikaru Ota!　Our Mirai” (TBS), Hikaru Ota of Bakusho Mondai became the first host of a special election program. He laughed and said “I’m sorry for your loss” to LDP Secretary General Akira Amari, who was unsuccessful in his election district (but came back to win through proportional representation), and asked former Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai, “How long are you going to continue being a politician? It was criticized on the Internet as “rude! He also asked Toshihiro Nikai, former secretary general of Japan, “How long are you going to continue being a politician?

However, TBS, the network that hired Ota, has not made any clear comment on the controversy he has caused. As a matter of fact, some people in the station’s upper echelons are said to be appreciative of Ota’s eight-sided, six-sided activities.

After the election, an e-mail was sent out to commend the staff for their hard work in covering the election, saying, “Thank you for all the hard work of the election team. It is only natural for executives of news bureaus to express their gratitude to the people on the ground, and this time, TBS was able to escape from its ‘fixed position’ of being the lowest rank of private broadcasters in terms of election specials, although it was only for the first hour. The most important thing for a TV program is to become the talk of the town. Everyone thinks that was thanks to Mr. Ota, the MC.” (TBS insider)

(TBS insider) To be precise, TBS came in last place overall again this time. To be precise, TBS came in last overall this time as well, but for the “one hour” from the start to 9:00 p.m., the viewer ratings were as follows (Video Research, Kanto region), and the station got off to a good start.

Nippon Television Network Corporation’s “Zero Election 2021” (Yumiko Ariake and Sho Sakurai): 10.8%.
TV Asahi’s “Election Station 2021” (Kensuke Okoshi, Yoko Oshita): 7.2%.
TV Tokyo’s “TXN Lower House Election SP: Ikegami Akira’s General Election Live” (Ikegami Akira, Oe Mariko) 7.6%.
TBS’s “Election Day 2021: Hikaru Ota and the Question!　Our Mirai” (Hikaru Ota, Ayaka Ogawa) 6.2%.
Our Mirai” (Hikaru Ota, Ayaka Ogawa): 6.2% ●Fuji TV’s “Live Election Sunday” (Seiji Miyane, Ayako Kato): 6.2%.

TBS and Fuji were tied for last place, but if you look at it in a different way, it can be said that TBS moved up to the same fourth place. (Fuji’s rating rose from the second part at 9 p.m. to 7.6%.

(Fuji’s viewership rose to 7.6% from the second part at 9:00 p.m.) “Previously, the special programs were mainly pre-recorded VTRs, and many people inside and outside the station responded that they didn’t feel they were worth watching. In other words, the evaluation was that it was neither poison nor medicine. This is a very disappointing evaluation for the news reporters and production staff who are desperately running around in the field.

In this respect, Mr. Ota’s MC may have had some problems with his language and attitude, but the program itself received a lot of attention.

Incidentally, in the House of Councillors election held in July 2007, TBS came in last, 0.2 points behind the fourth-place private broadcasters. In the last House of Representatives election held in October 2005, TBS was at the bottom by a wide margin of 1.7%, even with Fuji Television, which continued to broadcast boxing during the voting and switched to a special election program in the middle. Considering this, it is not surprising that some people are evaluating this time’s figures.

As time has passed since the special program and the heat has gradually cooled down, there are more and more people who appreciate Ota’s artistic style of going in without any “discernment. Fumio Takada, a broadcaster and TV personality, said on his radio program “Fumio Takada’s Radio Beverly Afternoon” (Nippon Broadcasting System)

Fumio Takada, a broadcaster and TV personality, praised Ota on his radio program “Fumio Takada’s Radio Beverly Afternoon” (Nippon Broadcasting System), saying, “There is no politician who can be so blunt.

He praised Ota. If Ota is again the MC for TBS’s election special for next year’s Upper House election, he will definitely be a hot topic, for better or worse. More and more people will tune in to see what he has to say this time.

“I am well aware that Mr. Ota has received a lot of criticism for his outbursts. However, there is a lot of room for improvement, and I think he is more motivated to come back. I’ve also heard that Mr. Ota is planning to be the MC for the special program on the Upper House election if he gets an official offer. Well, he might have his partner Yuji Tanaka next to him as a follow-up,” said an entertainment industry insider.

For this election special, former Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who works for the same office, appeared on Fuji TV behind the scenes and livened up the program with his blunt remarks about the big-name lawmakers. If Tanaka also appears in the special program for the Upper House election, the office may be in a “special election demand”…?