Yumiko Arido’s “news zero” was “unexpectedly thought out by Nippon TV” behind her departure from the show.

I realized that I was now 54 years old!　I thought it was now or never for me to take on a new challenge, so I started consulting with them a year and a half ago, and they agreed to listen to my wishes, and now “news zero” has graciously agreed to send me on my way.

On December 14, announcer Yumiko Arido, 54, announced her graduation from “news zero. She will be replaced by Takahiko Fujii, 52, who was ranked No. 1 in “Favorite Male Announcer Ranking 2023.

The news of Yumiko’s demotion was circulated within the company as early as December. Arifuki succeeded Nobuhisa Murao, who was the first main anchor, and has been the face of the program for more than five years since October ’18 as the second main anchor.

When she first started appearing on “news zero,” the ratings were often sluggish, but now they are stable at around 5% despite the late-night hours. The main reason for this is unquestionably Anna Arifo. She has been NHK’s signature announcer for many years, and her abilities are impeccable. She has a friendly personality and is well received by the staff. That is why her departure from Nippon TV has become a major topic of conversation within the company.

(A source at a production company). The news of her resignation was reportedly shared within the company in early December. This magazine also received the rumor and requested an interview with Nippon TV on December 13, but the official announcement was made less than a day after we sent our letter of inquiry.

In both name and reality, Arifumi has been the “face of Nippon TV at night. What exactly happened behind the unusual decision to have such a signature announcer leave the program? Although Ms. Arifusa said that she “voluntarily offered to graduate from the program,” there were other reasons as well.

A source at the production company mentioned above said, “There is a question mark over whether this is an amicable personnel move.

There is no doubt that Anna Udo voiced her desire to take on a new challenge. In response, Nippon TV has had a series of discussions with her. These discussions were kept confidential even within the company, and only a small number of station employees were informed of them until December.

However, Nippon TV has another goal in mind. It is to cut costs. It is said that Ariko’s appearance fee is around 1 million yen per program. This is an unbeatable rate for an anchor. Since she has contributed so much to the program, Nippon TV wanted to keep her on as long as possible, but cutting personnel costs is a major issue at the moment. However, personnel cost reductions are a major issue at hand, and the decision was probably made out of a sense of helplessness.

The impact of the resignation of Anna Arido will not be limited to “news zero.

The third main anchor will be Takahiko Fujii, who has led Nippon TV’s news coverage for many years. With this move, Fujii will graduate from “news every. His successors for this program have also been decided, with Nana Suzue (43) and Keisuke Mori (45) scheduled to take over. This is a major personnel change, not only for the ‘night face,’ but also for the entire news program,” said a mid-level employee of Nippon TV.

Nippon TV’s flagship program is about to come to an end.