<figure id="attachment_337841" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 5472px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-337841"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="d4a26234"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/10/a55514fdee4be385604782076aee2450.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-337841" class="wp-caption-text">On January 17, the company name was changed to &#8220;SMILE-UP.&#8221; But there are still many problems to be solved.</figcaption></figure>
The bad business relationship between entertainment companies and TV stations is coming to light one after another.
 
On &#8220;News 7&#8221; broadcast on the 9th of this month, NHK reported that the late Mr. Johnny Kitagawa had also sexually assaulted a male victim in the station&#8217;s restroom. The program also aired the testimony of a male victim who was a high school student at the time, which shocked the public.
“The alleged victim was Mr. A, who wanted to appear in &#8220;The Boys&#8217; Club.” NHK commented on the content of its own program, saying, &#8220;We take very seriously the testimony of a man who claims to have been seriously sexually victimized inside the broadcast center.”
 
NHK subsequently announced the cancellation of the public recording of &#8220;The Boys&#8217; Club,&#8221; which was scheduled for November 16, and said that its broadcasting schedule for November and beyond has not yet been decided.
“The station is really trying to get rid of the pus of Johnny&#8217;s issue. The presence of the victim in the restroom was the next trump card after the NG list, and they were waiting for the right moment to disclose it as a hidden gem after conducting a careful verification.”
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="The &quot;master-servant relationship&quot; between a major entertainment agency and a TV station..."></div>
NHK has remained bullish, exposing scandals in its own stations following the NG list.
On the other hand, there are other problems besides Johnny&#8217;s. The commercial broadcasters continue to have a distorted relationship with other major entertainment companies. A senior executive at a key station revealed, 
“The relationship between TV stations and entertainment agencies can hardly be called equal. An easy example is the theme songs for TV dramas. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of cases where TV stations let the agencies of the lead actors decide which artist will be in charge of the theme song of a drama.”
“This has caused anger among producers, directors, and others. A TV drama is a work of art, including the theme song. If the office&#8217;s requests are passed over those of the production team, it is no wonder that the office and the TV station are said to be in a master-servant relationship.”
 
Furthermore, entertainment agencies sometimes benefit from decisions regarding drama theme songs.
“Some of the major agencies always assign an artist belonging to a particular label to be in charge of the theme song,&#8221; he said. 
“In many cases, when the lid is lifted, the firm owns a stake in the record company that is the major label.”
“If the music of the nominated artist is actually used, it will contribute to the record company&#8217;s performance, and furthermore, to the profits of the office that owns the stock. It is unhealthy for the theme song to be decided based on such circumstances.”
The &#8220;master-servant&#8221; relationship between major entertainment agencies and commercial TV stations continues. Will Johnny&#8217;s issue be an opportunity to break free from this distorted relationship?

 Kazuhiko NAKAMURA

 The relationship between TV stations and entertainment agencies is still far from equal. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of cases where TV stations let the offices of the lead actors decide which artist will be in charge of the theme song for a drama series.

Distorted Relationship Between TV Stations and Entertainment Agencies Amidst ‘Sexual Harassment’ Issue of Johnny’s

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