“Goodbye Generation Z” Trend by NTV to Attract Senior Viewers

The other two celebrities that are favored by seniors are Yoshizumi Ishihara (61) and Kazushige Nagashima (57). Anamika is said to be the newcomer to the “outspoken, strong, mature women” category where Mrs. Devi (83) used to reign supreme.

The “good-bye Generation Z” trend has also spread to the topics that the programs cover. In the information programs, the old “hornet extermination” and “foreign tourists flooding into Japan” are said to be back in the spotlight. 

 

There is one more reason why TV has turned the helm toward “getting rid of core viewership ratings.”

It is the rise of TVer.

TV operators are now thinking, “Let’s attract young viewers to TVer’s missed programs.”

Not long ago, the quickest way to increase TVer viewers was to cast Japanese celebrities. As long as there was at least one Japanese celebrity in the cast, fans who were accustomed to turning to YouTube for their “favorites” would work hard to increase the number of views. “Passion for Punchlines” (Nippon TV), starring Kaito Takahashi (24) of King & Prince and Shintaro Morimoto (26) of SixTONES, did not do well in terms of viewer ratings, but its TVer view count exceeded 1 million, and the total number of views of the promotional video on YouTube was the highest in Nippon TV’s.

The director of the production company laughs bitterly.

“The collapse of Johnny’s has made it impossible to use that technique. So now our policy has changed: “Instead of creating programs for Generation Z, we cast a Generation Z talent who can increase the number of views on TVer. Instead of replacing Japanese talents, “JO1” and “Nogizaka46” are being pulled in to replace Japanese talents.”

 

Osamu Suzuki, a broadcaster who created many popular variety shows such as “SMAP x SMAP” (Fuji TV) and established a new era, announced his retirement at this time. It is said that at the same time as Mr. Suzuki’s retirement, production companies that have produced national variety shows have been acquired one after another.

“In the past few years, each station has been increasing the number of drama slots, which are easy to monetize, but starting this fall, the number of drama slots has increased further. In the future, animation slots are scheduled to be expanded. This has taken a toll on variety shows. Viewer demand itself has declined sharply, and the number of slots will only decrease in the future. Production companies that used to specialize in variety programs are struggling to survive.”

The Japanese TV industry is undergoing unprecedented changes.