TBS Denies Omakase Cancellation, Raising Questions About Its Future and Akiko Wada’s Rumored Move

TBS strongly denies “termination reports

At a regular press conference held by TBS on September 25th, Takashi Goda, a member of the TBS team, strongly denied reports that his program “Akko ni Omakase! at TBS’s regular press conference on September 25, TBS Senior Managing Director Takanobu Goda denied the report , saying, “It’s not true at all. I would like to strongly state that it is not true at all,” he denied .

In early September, the web version of “Josei Jishin” (Women’s magazine) (published by Kobunsha) reported about the program’s termination in the coming spring. Akiko Wada (74), a TV personality who has been called into question for her numerous problematic comments, is in talks to terminate the program after her comments on the August 11 broadcast became the decisive factor.

Wada’s comment in the August 11 broadcast, which is said to have been the decisive factor, was directed at Haruka Kitaguchi (26), who won the gold medal in the women’s javelin throw at the Paris Olympics. In response to a video of Kitaguchi eating a sponge cake on her stomach during a break, Wada said, “It looks like a sea lion lying down. It ‘s cute. This caused a firestorm on the Internet.

At the beginning of the following week’s broadcast on the 18th of the same month, Wada’s voice trembled and he said with a mysterious look on his face , “In last week’s broadcast, I made an inappropriate comment comparing him to an animal. I apologize. He then revealed that he had been cheering for Kitaguchi, saying, “I myself love her and wish her the best, and then she won the gold medal, which I had longed for, and I was really, really happy to see her on TV.

For many years, Ms. Wada was known as the “opinionator of the entertainment world,” speaking freely at events and during interviews, and her programs were supported by viewers in that vein. In recent years, however, his comments have been received more harshly by viewers, and he has frequently been criticized online. In this case, he was shocked because he was truly rooting for Kitaguchi. This also contributed to strengthening the credibility of the censored report.

Furthermore, in recent years, in the battle for average household viewer ratings among private key stations in the same time slot, the TV program “School Revolution! and is competing with TV Asahi’s “Beat Takeshi’s TV Tackle. If it had dominated the other stations in viewer ratings, these stories would not have come out.

Still, whispers of Wada’s “destination” continue to circulate.

The program has a long history. On October 7, 1984, Wada was appointed as the host of the program’s predecessor, “Yu YOU Sunday! the program that preceded it, with freelance announcer Itiro Furudate (69). In April 1985, the program was renamed “Akko Furudate no Ah! I said it! and changed its name to “Akko Furudate no Ah! In October of the same year, the program was renamed to its current name, which has remained unchanged to this day.

In October, it will be 40 years since Mr. Wada became the “daytime face” of TBS. Next year will be the program’s 40th anniversary. Mr. Wada has been saying for some time that he would like to continue until the 40th anniversary. It would not have been surprising if he had said that he wanted to celebrate the 40th anniversary of being the “face of daytime” next spring. However, if the program was not terminated at that time, the 40th anniversary of the program next October will be a major “milestone” for TBS.

There is no doubt that Wada has been a great contributor to TBS. Therefore, even if “Omakase” comes to an end, it is likely that Wada will be given due consideration.

Rumors of Tokyo Magazine,” in which freelance announcer Takeo Morimoto (85) has been the MC since April 2009, and “Sunday Morning” MC Hiroshi Sekiguchi (81) has been the MC of “Hiroshi Sekiguchi’s What Will Happen Next? and moved to the Sunday noon time slot on BS-TBS in April ’24. (If Mr. Wada agrees, there is a possibility that “Akko ni Omakase! between the two programs.

Wada, whose program will not end next spring, may be able to “leave it to BS,” where he does not have to worry about viewer ratings and his comments are less likely to be reported on the Internet news.

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