<figure id="attachment_397164" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 2000px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-397164"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f344d67c"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/10/b3f9dbdd323e0e35104f6d4e76f6007a.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-397164" class="wp-caption-text">Long working hours are still being worked in the TV industry (image shown)</figcaption></figure>
<h2>Monthly working hours exceed 400 hours</h2>
<p>The television industry, where long working hours and power harassment used to be the norm, has completely changed. Posters touting &#8220;work style reform&#8221; hang in the corridors of stations, and NHK&#8217;s morning dramas are now filmed on a more relaxed schedule in order to shorten daily working hours. We hear that the working environment has become much cleaner, but has the way TV staff work really changed? We asked some of the production company staff who actually work onsite to tell us.</p>
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<p>Mr. A, who was promoted from AD to director of a key station&#8217;s information program this year, lamented about his working environment.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> When I was an AD, there was always an all-nighter once a week. Of course, I could not take a bath. At the end of the year during the busy season, I sometimes worked more than 400 hours a month. When you become a director, you have fewer chores than when you were an AD, but the total working hours do not change much. I would shoot during the day and spend my evenings in the editing studio, frantically working on editing to get the show on the air in time. I feel that the long working hours themselves have not changed that much.</span></p>
<p>Mr. B, an AD who works on the same information program, continues.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Many TV people are motivated by the fact that they get to work with celebrities they admire. However, when you are a junior AD, you have almost no opportunity to meet the performers. Once you become a director, you have the opportunity to have meetings with entertainers, but the working environment is so harsh that many quit before becoming a director. This is not only because of the long working hours, but also because of the power harassment attitude that still remains. I once encountered a famous producer who hit his subordinate on the head while disciplining him.</span></p>
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<h2>More than one person quits every month.</h2>
<p>Of all the TV industry&#8217;s operations, variety shows are said to be the &#8220;blackest. Mr. C, a director of a variety show at a key station, lamented, &#8220;It&#8217;s easier than it used to be, but &#8230;&#8230;</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I used to work in the editing room from morning until noon the next day, but recently I can go home by the last train. However, since we have to work from early morning the next day, most of the staff don&#8217;t go home and sleep in the station&#8217;s nap area. They would rather spend their time sleeping than commuting to work.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In March of this year, an episode of &#8220;Monday to Night Fakashi&#8221; (NTV) showed an editing room whose hours of operation were &#8220;10:00 to 34:00 (10:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. the next morning),&#8221; and its blackness became a topic of conversation. However, this is a common scene in the industry. We were surprised that such a thing would become a topic of conversation.</span></p>
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<p>On the other hand, Mr. D, a director of a news program at a key station, says, &#8220;Things have changed from the past.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Until a few years ago, when the boss asked me to do something unreasonable, I would try to do it. But nowadays, young staff tend to clearly say they can&#8217;t do what they can&#8217;t do. There is still an atmosphere of &#8216;the junior staff can&#8217;t go home unless the senior staff goes home,&#8217; but the younger staff members go home without worrying about it. I feel that the way of working is changing.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> However, there are still all-nighters and it is difficult to make time for private life, so at least one person quits every month at my production company. As the number of people decreases, the burden on the remaining staff increases, so I would like to see the industry as a whole take a fresh look at the way we work.</span></p>
<p>I would like to see the industry as a whole take a fresh look at the way it works,&#8221; he said.</p>
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 Hirotsuru Fujiyama

 Long working hours and power harassment used to be the norm in the TV industry. Recently, we hear that the working environment has become cleaner, but has the way TV staff work really changed? We interviewed TV workers in the field.

Overnight Edits and Power Harassment: TV Industry’s Harsh Work Environment

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