The reason why TBS’s “Face of Information Programming,” Toshiaki Megumi, was not chosen to replace Hiroshi Sekiguchi, who was the most likely candidate to succeed Hiroshi Sekiguchi on “Sanmoni.

On October 20, the station announced that Hiroshi Sekiguchi (80) will leave his post as host of “Sunday Morning” (“Sun Moni,” TBS) at the end of March next year. Sekiguchi is,

In order to sustain the program for a long time, we should change generations while the program is still supported by the viewers,” said Sekiguchi.

Sekiguchi explained that the decision was made by both TBS and the station. The replacement is said to be Takako Zenba (48) of “Hodo Tokusetsu” (Special Report). Former NHK announcer Zemba, who has worked on all of TBS’s signature news programs, was asked about the decision,

This decision was met with criticism from veteran announcers at the station, who said, “Our station (TBS) gives priority to freelance announcers who have left other stations.

A veteran announcer at the station complained, “Our station (TBS) gives priority to freelance announcers who have left for other stations. However, it is not only the station’s announcers who are disappointed. The anchors and commentators from “Sankatsura” who appear on “Sun Moni” are also worried that they will be dropped along with Sekiguchi. …. Some of them are already running their own businesses.

Sankatsura” is an entertainment agency that specializes in freelance announcers and commentators and is headed by Sekiguchi. Commentators include Kang Shonaka, Mayumi Taniguchi, Take Koyama aka “Roof Atari,” and Tetsuo Nakanishi.

In the past, there were many more female anchors. If it had been female announcers at TBS, the generation would have changed long ago, but this was only possible because of Sekiguchi’s power,” said a person involved in the production of information programs.

(Information program production staffer) “The one who is said to be even more depressed than Sekiguchi is Toshiaki Megumi (58) of “Hiruobi” (TBS).

I believe that Megumi has been working hard on “Hiruobi” with the intention of taking over “Sanmoni. I am sure she was informed in advance of her loss, but it must have been a shock for her.

Megumi first took over the main afternoon slot on TBS in 2004 with “Information Very Insight. It ended after only one year due to poor ratings, but soon after, “Kyo Hatta Plus! was started. was started soon after, but it too ended after one year. However, “2:00 Ciao! which started later, the viewer ratings gradually increased. The program continued for three years, and the current “Hiruobi” started in the same slot. There is a reason why TBS has been promoting Megumi to this point.

There is no doubt that TBS has been grooming Ms. Megumi to be the next anchor after Ms. Sekiguchi. TBS has been patiently using Megumi since “Insight,” which had such low ratings. Thanks to her efforts, “Hiruobi” became the top-ranked program in the same time slot in terms of viewer ratings. This continued until 2007.

However, the morning slot on TBS became “Lavit! and the atmosphere changed as the viewer demographic became younger.

As Shiraku Tachikawa commented, “The “Hiruobi” program has become a variety show like “King’s Brunch”.

The average household rating of “Hiruobi” was also lower than the average household rating of “Yoko Oshita Wide,” which was the highest rating of “Scramble” (TV Asahi)! Scramble” (TV Asahi) in average household viewer ratings. It is significant that the trend of putting more effort into news programs has stopped.

Nevertheless, Megumi continued to accumulate knowledge as a news MC by studying at the Graduate School of Sport Sciences at Waseda University.

Even though it was a ‘verbal promise,’ successive producers had always said, ‘Megumi will be next in line after Sekiguchi. Naturally, the executives at Watanabe Entertainment, Megumi’s agency, were aware of this, and I heard that they were upset about the appointment of Mr. Zemba, saying, “That’s not what they were talking about.

However, he said, “Sanmoni has always taken the stance of speaking out against the administration. It is not possible that there is a difference in perception between TBS and Watanabe. The fact that Ms. Sekiguchi left “Sanmoni” earlier than expected may have been a miscalculation on the part of Megumi and Watanabe.

The homepage of “Hiruobi” introduces the following words from Megumi: “I wake up almost every morning at 5:00 a.m. to watch “Sanmoni”.

I wake up almost every morning at 5:00 a.m. I brush my teeth and clean my bath every morning. Every morning, I brush my teeth, clean the bath, read the newspaper, watch an information program, and head to TBS. This is my routine almost every morning.

Will she continue to work on “Hiruobi”? We will have to wait and see what Megumi decides.

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