Misinterpretation in Music Show with MUSIC
In April, due to the spring Saturday schedule change on Nippon TV, the music program “with MUSIC,” which started as the successor to “Sekaiichi Uketai Jugyou (The World’s Most Wanted Lesson),” is struggling.
“The concept is quite grand: “Aiming for a fully-fledged music program in the Reiwa era that incorporates a global perspective and values, featuring the songs and music artists most desired to be heard right now. This includes hit programs like ‘Sekai no Hate Made ItteQ!’ and ‘Getsuyou kara Yofukashi’, overseen by Yoshiyuki Furudate, recently appointed as a ‘General Specialist’ in the latest personnel reshuffle.
Hosting the show are Yumiko Udo, who just graduated from ‘News Zero’, and actor-singer-songwriter Kohei Matsushita, both top-tier choices. However, the ratings just aren’t improving,” (Production company producer).
Targeting males and females aged 13 to 49 as the “core target,” the goal was not only to secure stable viewership from this demographic but also to surpass and potentially overtake Music Station (on TV Asahi). However, this has turned out to be a major miscalculation. It’s hard to imagine the show becoming a sudden super-hit within just two months since its launch, but the persistently low ratings are disheartening.
“Originally, there were concerns within the station that competing in the Saturday 8:00 PM time slot would be challenging. Now, even the ratings for the subsequent dramas ‘Hanasaki Mai ga Damattenai’ and ‘Machinami Terasu Yatsura’ not performing well are being attributed to MUSIC.
Hanasaki Mai occupies a newly established drama slot, while Machinami was initially planned for a show starring Tsuyoshi Muro, titled ‘Ta-tan’. Due to Muro’s withdrawal, it was hastily replaced with SixTONES’ Shintaro Morimoto as the lead, and despite strong efforts in content, the shows are struggling.” (same source)
Furthermore,
“Voices are even saying things like, ‘They approached some musicians to appear, but were turned down by several who didn’t want to participate.'”
“They say the studio set looks cheap because Yumiko Udo and Kohei Matsushita’s fees are high.”
“It’s almost certain the show will be cancelled after two seasons, they say, and there’s a mood of resignation.”
Voices expressing sentiments like these have emerged, suggesting a mood of almost giving up.
When it comes to NTV’s music programs, classics like ‘Kohaku Uta no Best Ten’ and ‘Sokuhou! Uta no Daijiten’ were once highly popular. On weekends, ‘FUN’, with Norika Fujiwara as MC, always sparked significant discussion each episode.
