Fuji TV and NHK Cut Back on Regular Programs Featuring Former Johnny’s Talents – Uncertain Future Looms for Fan-Favorite Shows

Snow Man’s “Sore Suno,” which was promoted to Golden last April and is now the only GP-band show by a former Johnny’s talent, is available at?(2020 Jan.)

“Last autumn, the sexual misconduct scandal involving the late Johnny Kitagawa, founder of the former Johnny & Associates (now SMILE-UP.), caused a huge uproar in Japan. Timing-wise, it was expected to have no immediate impact on the January reshuffle of TV stations, but was anticipated to greatly influence the April reshuffle. However, a harsh reality has been thrust upon Johnny’s former talents.”

NHK, as well as various private TV stations, have been announcing their April reshuffles one after another. NHK, which excluded Johnny’s talents from its year-end “Kohaku Uta Gassen ” last year, has made it clear that it will exclude them not only from NHK General but also from other channels. The termination of eight programs has been announced, including two on BS such as “New Generation!” (formerly “The Shonen Club”) featuring “Juniors” (former Johnny’s Jr.), four on E-Tele such as “The Truth of Value” by SixTONES, and two radio programs including “STUDY! With Us and Everyone’s Radio” by A.B.C-. 

Fuji Television, which was also the former workplace of Julie Keiko Fujishima (57), former president of the former Johnny & Associates, announced the end of “KinKi Kids’ BUNBUBOON” and “TOKIO’s TOKITABI,” as well as “SUPER EIGHT’s After All, It’s Up to You” and “Hey! Say! JUMP’s Thank You High Jump.” JUMP’s program will be renamed and a new program is scheduled to be broadcast in the late night slot. Furthermore, “K7◎×Bu” hosted by Arashi’s Masaki Aiba (41) will be renamed to “Aiba◎×Bu” and moved from Thursday 7 p.m. to Saturday 4:30 p.m., a local time slot in the Kanto region.

Nippon TV will discontinue the Monday late-night drama slot “Dhindora,” which has been starring former Johnny’s talents, in addition to taking over the time slot of Arashi’s flagship show “Arashi ni Shiyagare” to start 1.3 Billion People’s SHOW Channel in 2021, with Sho Sakurai (42) as the host.

At TBS, “I Am a Boy of Adventure,” which was hosted by Snow Man’s Yosuke Imai (29) and Ren Meguro (27), has ended. TV Tokyo is continuing to suspend new appearances by its affiliated talents. However, it has announced that the new drama “95,” starring Kaito Takahashi (24) of King & Prince, will start in April as part of the station’s 60th anniversary drama, despite the ongoing suspension.

While NHK and other major private broadcasters are showing reluctance in hiring former Johnny’s talents, TV Asahi continues to maintain its stance as a “pro-Johnny” network. Starting in April, four dramas will premiere on TV Asahi, including “Destiny” starring KAT-TUN’s Kazuya Kamenashi (38), “Tokuso 9” starring Koki Inohara (47), “Yume ni Kakeru Hashi” starring Takuya Kimura (51), and “Tokyo Tower” starring Ren Nagase (25) of King & Prince.

“Amidst the widespread trend of cutting ties with Johnny’s talents, TV Asahi not only refuses to change its stance but seems to position itself as if it’s saving the former Johnny’s talents.

The drama ‘Mars – Zero no Kakumei-’ starring Shunsuke Michieda (21), a core member of Naniwa Danshi, recorded a viewer rating in the 3% range, resulting in a major flop. Therefore, just because they cast former Johnny’s talents in dramas other than ‘Tokuso 9,’ which has a stable fan base and ratings, it doesn’t guarantee good ratings.

Furthermore, Naniwa’s flagship show ‘Naniwa Danshi’ will continue. Since Aiba Manabu is doing well, it’s understandable, but” (Entertainment reporter)

The future of programs featuring former Johnny’s talents on networks other than TV Asahi is concerning.

“At Fuji TV, they have kept ‘Is There Anything Interesting?’ hosted by Sexy Zone’s Fuma Kikuchi (29) and Shinobu Hasegawa (45) of the comedy duo Shisonnu. It airs in the late-night slot starting at 11 p.m., and since it’s not solely hosted by Kikuchi, it seems they’ve decided to keep it. However, Aiba’s ‘Aiba◎×Bu,’ which became a local show in the Kanto region starting April, seems like they might want to discontinue it smoothly.

 

At NTV, ‘Aah!! Everyone’s Zoo’ hosted by Aiba and ‘The! Iron Arm! DASH!!’ hosted by TOKIO are maintaining high viewership, so they are likely to continue. There were rumors of Sho Sakurai leaving his weekday caster position on news zero after Yumiko Udo (54) stepped down at the end of March, but even with the new lineup, he will continue.”

At TBS, It’s Snow Man, Let Us Do It’ is the only GP-belt (7-11 p.m.) program featuring former Johnny’s talents, but its future doesn’t look so bright either.

“‘Sore Suno,’ which was promoted to the Golden time slot last April, hasn’t been doing well lately. If the ratings continue to decline, there’s a possibility it might move from the GP belt during the autumn reshuffle. KAT-TUN’s flagship program ‘KAT-TUN’s Treasure Hunt’ seems likely to continue.

Speaking of TBS, starting April, the music program ‘CDTV Live! Live!’ will expand its broadcast time from one hour to two hours. The show mainly features live performances with full chorus. They are expected to actively feature boy groups other than former Johnny’s talents.”

It seems that aside from TV Asahi, the stability of positions on other networks is only assured for Kikuchi, Aiba, Sakurai, and KAT-TUN. Whether the newly launched company “STARTO ENTERTAINMENT,” which will fully operate from April, can turn things around in the autumn reshuffle remains to be seen.

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