Advertising sales are up 150% from the previous year! Despite the “TVer Special Demand,” Program Production Companies are in “Danger of Survival”…and the Ruthless Reason Why

Talent who can earn views

Instead of a TVer special demand, we are in a TVer hell. ……

While terrestrial TV ratings continue to slump, TVer, a video sharing service, is experiencing “special demand” with ad sales up 150% over the previous year.

One would have thought that the production site would have been well off, but a producer at a medium-sized production company let out a sigh of relief and continued, “It’s true that the editing for TVer is not as good as it used to be.

It is true that there has been a considerable increase in work, such as editing and delivery for TVer. However, there is nothing positive about it, just an increase in work. We, the production companies, don’t receive a single penny in additional production costs. Only the stations are getting rich. It’s not just special demand, it’s TVer hell.

What does it mean that there is no income even though there is an increase in work? A producer explained with a bitter look on his face, “Production costs have been cut back considerably.

Production costs have been reduced considerably, so the number of talents we can use in our programs is decreasing. We can no longer cast on a trial basis, so we have to be selective and focused in order to win. To be more specific, the talent pool is narrowed down to young female talents with good reactions, such as Yu-chami (23), mamatare (popular with the tea public), such as Miki Fujimoto (39), and “opinion leaders of the big time,” such as Tomio Umezawa (73). Conversely, the program is viable with these three types of people, but due to the special demand for TVer, additional casting of “TV personalities who can earn views on TVer” is now required. Their casting costs are eating into production costs, and profits are tightening. ……

Incidentally, who are the talents who can gain views on TVer? According to a mid-career broadcaster, it is “those who have fans who are enthusiastic about them.

The top idols such as ‘Snow Man’ and ‘Nogizaka46’ and influencers such as Shinako (28), who are supported by Generation Z. They are very useful. They are very useful. The effect is especially noticeable in dramas. The number of TVer favorites and “likes” for a drama can vary dozens of times depending on whether or not it features a talent from the former Johnny’s, or STARTO ENTERTAINMENT.

A director who works part-time

Production companies specializing in variety programs are facing a difficult situation. The viewer ratings have been slumping due to the inability to produce sharp productions now that Reiwa is in a compliance-constrained state. Few people go out of their way to watch variety shows on TVer, and even TVer is struggling with variety shows. TVer is also struggling with variety programs, and is losing broadcast slots to dramas and animations one after another.

One of the producers mentioned above expressed his concern.

The director of variety programs was the flower of TV in the Heisei era,” said a producer. Nowadays, not a few of them have closed their stores. We at the production company are sometimes contacted by people asking if we have any work for them. We would like to help them, but we are also in trouble because we don’t have any work. ……

We also have a director who works at a supermarket during the day and as a security guard at night, waiting for a job offer to come in. I, too, have finished three programs this fall. I have two more programs to go. After that, we will finally have to consider dissolving the company.

While the stations are enjoying a fruitful autumn thanks to the TVer special demand, the subcontracted TV workers are bracing themselves for a harsh winter.