TV Asahi’s Major Cost Reduction Due to Johnny’s Sexual Abuse Sparks Concerns Amid Increased Focus on Senior Content

On July 10, TV Asahi announced that its news program “Good! Morning,” which currently airs every weekday morning, will expand to Sunday mornings starting in October. The current “Sunday LIVE!!” will end in September.

According to the announcement, the Sunday edition will be a joint production by TV Asahi, its affiliated ABC Television (Osaka), and Me-Tele (Nagoya), with announcers from all three stations serving as the main hosts. The lineup includes TV Asahi’s announcers Naoyuki Hiraishi (49), Risako Arai (age not disclosed), and Kakuko Miyama (age not disclosed); ABC Television’s announcer Saori Masuda (27); and Me-Tele’s announcer Hana Komatsuzaki (26). The Sunday edition will focus on “what you want to know this morning,” paying attention to overlooked events and the “aftermath” of news throughout the week.

“On Saturday mornings, from April 2015 until the program ended in March this year, Shigeru Joshima from TOKIO (53) was the main anchor of ‘Weekly News Leader.’ On Sundays, from October 2017, Noriyuki Higashiyama (57) served as the main anchor of ‘Sunday LIVE!!’. However, Higashiyama stepped down in September last year following his appointment as president of SMILE-UP. (formerly Johnny’s Jimusho), and Naoyuki Hiraishi took over as his replacement. Subsequently, ‘Weekly News Leader’ also ended in March this year.

TV Asahi faced public backlash last year due to its deep ties with the former Johnny’s agency, which was involved in a sexual abuse scandal. The end of ‘Weekly News Leader’ and ‘Sunday LIVE!!’ was partly attributed to Johnny’s issues. Consequently, the network decided to focus on using in-house announcers rather than celebrities. To foster young talent at its affiliated stations, TV Asahi has appointed many younger female announcers for weekend broadcasts” (broadcasting department reporter).

By not using celebrities and airing ‘Good! Morning’ from Monday to Sunday, TV Asahi has succeeded in significantly reducing costs. On the other hand, TV Asahi announced on the 11th of this month that it will start a news program called ‘Udo Times’ with free announcer Yumiko Udo (55) as the main anchor in October. The current ‘Sunday Station’ will end in September.