Too much load for Ninomiya? … “Names of former SMAPs” expected to co-star with Masahiro Nakai in “Matsumo to Nakai”.

Matsumoto to Nakai,” a Fuji Television variety show that started on April 30, 2008, was a team effort between Downtown’s Hitoshi Matsumoto (60) and TV personality Masahiro Nakai (51), who served as MC. Now, following the announcement of Matsumoto’s indefinite suspension, the program has been renamed “Dareka to Nakai” since the February 4 broadcast, with Kazuya Ninomiya (40) of “Arashi” serving as Nakai’s partner.

Matsumoto announced his hiatus on January 8. After that, the title was changed and a new partner for Mr. Nakai began to be considered. In the midst of all this, Mr. Ninomiya and lyricist Yasushi Akimoto (65) made a guest appearance on the January 28 broadcast, which was the first broadcast with Mr. Nakai as sole MC.

The recording that day was so exciting that the program made a no-brainer offer to Mr. Ninomiya after the show was over, and he readily accepted. He became the savior of the program. The fact that the influence of the former Johnny’s office (SMILE-UP.) had disappeared was probably one of the reasons why the collaboration went smoothly.

The average household rating for the January 28 episode was 7.2% (Video Research, Kanto region, the same below). The figure was up 1.8 points from the 5.4% for the previous week’s broadcast. The absence of Matsumoto did not cause the ratings to plummet, but what is of interest is the subsequent ratings.

On February 4, when the program was renamed and Ninomiya took over as the new MC, the ratings were 7.4%, followed by 5.1% on February 18 and 6.0% on February 25, when actress Yoko Maki (41)’s “outburst” became a hot topic. The ratings had not increased since Ninomiya took over as MC. The presence of Matsumoto has made it easier to cast big-name guests, and it seems that the difficult situation is not going to change.