Former TV Tokyo Producer on N-Speak Discusses TV Networks Struggle to Cater to Talent Agencies’ Power
The Potential to Monsterize Talent Agencies.
What television can proudly claim in its battle against streaming is the close relationship it has built with talent agencies over its long broadcasting history, a bond that cannot be severed no matter what.
Toshihiko Tabuchi, a former TV Tokyo producer who gained attention for his appearance in the NHK Special examining the Johnny’s sexual abuse scandal and now a professor at the School of Arts and Culture at Obirin University, discusses how the intensification of two trends at television stations is confusing the production team of the show Omusubi.
Even today, terrestrial television is unable to present any metrics other than viewership ratings as indicators to sponsors.
Continuing from the previous section, I would like to examine the second trend, the increasing power of talent agencies.
The phone call from TV Tokyo also clearly indicates that, as TV Tokyo wants to actively use talents from the former Johnny’s (hereafter referred to as “Old J”), my appearance on the NHK Special (“N-Speak”) carries the risk of complaints from Old J, and thus, it was inconvenient for them. However, such consideration and appeasement attitudes can potentially transform talent agencies into powerful entities.
Even today, terrestrial television networks cannot present any metrics other than viewership ratings to sponsors as a benchmark.
When a program broadcast on terrestrial TV is later made available for streaming, it doesn’t necessarily need to have high viewership ratings to gain significant views. Yet, paradoxically, when selling terrestrial TV programs, viewership ratings become even more important in order to distinguish them from streaming content.
Amidst this, the quality of talent in the television industry has declined, and only a handful of people can assess whether a proposal will be successful based on the plan alone. Even if someone has a gut feeling like, “This is good, it’s going to be a hit,” in today’s TV industry, where even the smallest failure can lead to significant damage, everyone is becoming more cautious, afraid to take responsibility.
So, where do they turn? To the cast.
Casting popular talents and actors has become the most “reliable” and “efficient” way to achieve success. Additionally, if the program doesn’t succeed or fails, it’s easy to blame the talent by saying, “Maybe the lead actor wasn’t strong enough.”
Today, drama proposals often prioritize cast first, cast second, with names of well-known actors filling the pages. The focus has shifted from evaluating the essence of the concept to merely putting a checkmark next to the actors listed in the proposal.
