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.

 

“‘Sunday Station’ used in-house announcers, so while hiring Yumiko Udo will increase costs, it seems the savings from the weekend mornings have been redirected there. Originally, ‘Sunday Station’ often achieved the second highest average household ratings in the same time slot among private key stations, after TBS’s ‘Sunday Theater,’ so the aim with Udo’s appointment seems to be to boost those numbers” (TV network insider).

TV Asahi has solidified its morning and evening time slots with news programs, but there are concerns about a certain issue.

“Program creation is heavily influenced by Chairman Hiroshi Hayakawa (80), who has long been at the top and is known as the emperor of TV Asahi. Under Hayakawa’s direction, entertainment content in information programs is extremely limited, with ‘Good! Morning’ being an exception. The weekday morning program ‘Morning Show’ focuses heavily on politics and social issues, and ‘Wide! Scramble’ adds international affairs and British royal news, resulting in a very rigid program structure.

However, this approach only attracts middle-aged and older viewers, particularly neglecting housewives during the daytime. The network has not been able to attract core viewers aged 13 to 49 throughout the day. Even with Yumiko Udo’s appointment, it’s unlikely to increase younger viewers, and the network may further shift towards an ‘NHK-like’ image, which is already seen as targeting older audiences. As long as Hayakawa’s regime continues, this policy is unlikely to change” (previously mentioned broadcasting department reporter).

Although TV Asahi is competing with NTV for the top spot in household ratings, its revenue suggests it’s lagging behind, often trailing ‘when you look back, it’s TV Tokyo.’ With the current viewership primarily comprising middle-aged and older individuals, the shift towards an ‘NHK-like’ approach may be beneficial for viewers, but it might not be advantageous for TV Asahi.

 

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