Ochiai Hiromitsu Gets ¥2M for Samurai Japan Commentary on Amazon Prime

Ore-style commentary is back.

Baseball fans were in an uproar. On November 9, during a preliminary game for the “3rd WBSC Premier 12” against the Czech Republic, former Chunichi manager Hiromichi Ochiai (70) provided commentary as a special guest during a live broadcast on Amazon Prime Video.

Ochiai, who managed Chunichi until 2011, provided double commentary for the games with former Seibu manager Hatsuhiko Tsuji (66).

He shared a behind-the-scenes story from his days as GM of Chunichi’s top organization, saying, “We tried to get Genda (Sousuke, now Seibu), who was a college student at the time, but he had decided on a career in baseball for working people, so we didn’t take him. He had a white beard and looked like a hermit. The announcer and Mr. Tsuji kept referring to him as “Manager Ochiai” instead of “Mr. Ochiai,” and I could tell that he was very nervous about the event,” said a reporter who covered the event.

Recently, Mr. Ochiai’s main focus is his YouTube channel, “Hiromitsu Ochiai’s Ore-ryu Channel,” where he talks about a wide range of topics from baseball to conversations with his grandchildren, but his terrestrial TV exposure is limited to “Sunday Morning” (TBS), “Saturday Sports” and “Sunday Sports” (both NHK). Sports” (both on NHK).

All of these are corner appearances, and in some cases, pre-recorded material is played, so it has been a long time since he has commentated on a live baseball game.

More than 10 times more than terrestrial

A sports producer for a Tokyo-based TV station was impressed, saying, “I think they did a good job casting him.

It is possible to make an offer to Mr. Ochiai, but the problem is what comes next. They always ask, ‘How much are you prepared to pay? I will be asked. The bottom line is that you can’t take on a job for a low fee. Also, if his wife Nobuko does not shake her head, it is difficult to pull him out.

Prime Video” is streaming the live broadcast of the Samurai Japan game on January 9 exclusively, but the unit price of the fee is very different even in the sports genre. The fees for terrestrial TV broadcasts are 50,000-100,000 yen, or several hundred thousand yen at best, so you can’t compete with them. ……

Prime Video” began offering live broadcasts of games from the World Baseball Classic held last spring. The irony is that games not broadcast on terrestrial TV stations are exclusively streamed, and commercials for them are shown on terrestrial TV stations.

The previous WBC broadcast attracted a lot of attention when Sadaharu Oh, 84, the first manager and chairman of the board of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, appeared as a special guest commentator. Beyond the “Premier 12” this time, there is the “WBC” to be held in the spring of 2026, and the “Prime Video” side is naturally aiming to acquire the broadcasting rights; it is rumored that Ichiro (51), who had experienced the WBC, and Hideki Matsui (50) will provide commentary. It is noted that Mr. X, a fixer who is well versed in the pro-amateur baseball world and the broadcasting situation, will be involved in the casting process.

It seems that baseball is rapidly moving away from terrestrial broadcasting at an unexpected speed.