<figure id="attachment_403500" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-403500" style="width: 2048px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="146f85b7"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/12/17ad3c6755f98d79b244525bd841d9ef.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-403500" class="wp-caption-text">Sairi Ito (left), star of &#8220;Tora ni Tsubasa&#8221; and Kanna Hashimoto, star of &#8220;Omusubi&#8221;. It is unusual for the heroines of the first and second seasons to host &#8220;Kohaku.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The lowest ratings in the history of the show are confirmed.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> This is the last year.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> Every year around this time, negative reports about NHK&#8217;s Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Singing Contest) begin to pop up, and with no entries from STARTO ENTERTAINMENT, whose popular artists include Snow Man and SixTONES, for the second year in a row, the reviews have been harsh.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> At first, NHK and STARTO ENTERTAINMENT were negotiating on the assumption that they would participate in the festival. However, the flow of the negotiations changed drastically when a harsh report on the former Johnny&#8217;s issue appeared in the October 20 broadcast of the &#8220;NHK Special&#8221; program. Negotiations were terminated when Snow Man, the main attraction of the festival, expressed their reluctance to participate in the festival.</span></p>
<p> According to some reports, NHK wanted two groups to participate, while STARTO doubled its request to four groups.</p>
<h2> THE ALFEE and Iruka appeared for the second time in 32 years.</h2>
<p> As a result, it seems that conditions could not be agreed upon, but according to a sports newspaper reporter in charge of entertainment,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> In a way, this is healthy. If the relationship had existed a decade ago, it would have been pushed aside by the Johnny&#8217;s office, and it can be seen as a sign that NHK&#8217;s &#8220;discovery&#8221; of Johnny&#8217;s is rapidly waning.</span></p>
<p> NHK&#8217;s &#8216;discovery&#8217; with the Johnny&#8217;s agency has been drastically reduced,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p> Other names missing from the list were YOASOBI, who sang the theme song for NHK&#8217;s Paris Olympics program this summer, &#8220;Sentai ni Tatte&#8221; (Standing on the Stage); Yonezu Genji, who sang the theme song for the morning TV series &#8220;Tora ni Tsubasa&#8221;; and B&#8217;z, who sang the theme song for &#8220;Omusubi&#8221; (Omusubi), &#8220;Illumination.</p>
<p> On the other hand, artists who colored the Showa and Heisei eras were selected one after another, including THE ALFEE, celebrating their 50th anniversary, Iruka for the second time in 32 years, Minami Kosetsu for the sixth time in 27 years, and GLAY for the fourth time in 25 years. In response to this, it is said that the festival has returned to cater to seniors, rather than the youth of recent years. &#8230;&#8230;</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> But there is more to it than that. In fact, the hidden target is &#8220;small children. This year, we are going for it.</span></p>
<p> A music industry insider asserts, &#8220;This year, we are going after them completely.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" NHK&#39;s &quot;calculations&quot; unique to the &quot;New Year&#39;s Eve&quot; are being made at ......."></div>
<h2>This year, the ratings will be higher than expected.</h2>
<p> On New Year&#8217;s Eve, children stay up late more often than not, and the family channel is often controlled by the &#8220;cute kids&#8221; or &#8220;grandkids&#8221;. In this regard, this year&#8217;s white pairs are the most popular. From this perspective, this year&#8217;s first-time entrants, &#8220;Creepy Nuts&#8221; and &#8220;Kocchi no Kento&#8221; from the white group and &#8220;ILLIT&#8221; and &#8220;ME:I&#8221; from the red group, are very strong.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> ILLIT and ME:I are very popular among &#8220;dance-loving elementary school students. Creepy Nuts&#8217; &#8216;Bling-Bang-Bang-Born&#8217; had the whole elementary school class singing along. The same goes for &#8220;Haiyorokonde&#8221; by Kocchi no Kento. Children who want to see these artists beg their parents for channel rights, and then they just linger and watch. The goal is to be &#8220;a companion for family gatherings. In a sense, I think we have returned to the basics,&#8221; said a TV station official.</span></p>
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<p> Last year, the average household viewership ratings (Kanto region, Video Research survey) were 29.0% for the first part (7:20 p.m.) and 31.9% for the second part (9:00 p.m.), both record lows. Although many are predicting another year of struggle, the industry is saying, &#8220;This year, the ratings will be better than we expected.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> &#8220;This year, the ratings will be higher than expected.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> &#8220;Kohaku may make a comeback.</span></p>
<p> and &#8220;Kohaku may make a comeback. There are also few leading programs on other stations.</p>
<p> A person involved in the music industry also commented</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The number of staff involved, the scale, and the budget for Kohaku are all extraordinary,&#8221; said one music industry insider. Even if it is rotten, it is still a sea bream, and there is a sense of an annual festival.</span></p>
<p> The Kohaku is a once-a-year festival,&#8221; he said.</p>
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<p> Hiroko Ariyoshi, the host of the festival, said on a radio program he appeared on on December 1, &#8220;I can&#8217;t believe the bashing articles about Kohaku.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I don&#8217;t think the NHK people care about the bashing of Kohaku,&#8221; he said. They get excited about it, you know. They are just trying to get a rise out of it. I think that&#8217;s the way I looked at it, too.</span></p>
<p> NHK&#8217;s aim was right on the money.</p>


 Kazuhiko Nakamura

 NHK's annual Kohaku Uta Gassen on New Year's Eve is feared to have the "lowest viewer rating in history" due to the lack of participation by "STARTO" groups such as SnowMan, which had been the mainstay of the event.

Kohaku Uta Gassen&#8221; has received a &#8220;bad reputation&#8221; for being aimed at seniors&#8230; NHK&#8217;s secret plan to turn the tables is to &#8220;target children.

Kohaku Uta Gassen” has received a “bad reputation” for being aimed at seniors… NHK’s secret plan to turn the tables is to “target children.

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