<figure id="attachment_403372" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-403372" style="width: 1094px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5998a2d7"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/12/37a398ac948cf02401cafa0e3a1c05dc.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-403372" class="wp-caption-text">Fujii continues to struggle in &#8220;news zero&#8221;. Although there is no doubt about his popularity and ability, as he was ranked No. 1 in &#8220;Favorite Male Announcer Ranking&#8221; in &#8217;21 and &#8217;23, &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<h3> Not so good results for &#8220;partner system</h3>
<p> A source at Nippon TV says that &#8220;news zero&#8221; (Nippon TV) is in trouble. 4 years ago, the program had the highest average rating of 12%, but recently the numbers have been worsening.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Currently, the household viewership rate varies depending on the day of the week, but it is between 4 and 5%,&#8221; said one NTV official. When Yumiko Arido (55) was the main anchor, the ratings were 5 to 7%, so the ratings have dropped by 1 to 2%. Takahiko Fujii (53) has been the main anchor since April of this year, but the presence of Udo, who can deliver news from a woman&#8217;s perspective, was still valuable. In fact, TBS and Fuji Television also value this perspective and promote women as newscasters.</span></p>
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<p> Fujii&#8217;s reputation within the station is not bad at all. However, the hole left by the loss of Udo seems to have been larger than expected. When Udo left &#8220;news zero,&#8221; Nippon TV reportedly tried to console her, but she was adamant about her decision.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> TV Asahi made a sweet offer to her, and it seems that they also offered her a position on the &#8220;News Station. Because of this, Nippon TV was forced to revamp &#8220;news zero,&#8221; which did not have bad ratings, and decided to start &#8220;with MUSIC&#8221; in order to keep the relationship with Arifusa afloat.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> There is even talk of discontinuing &#8220;with MUSIC,&#8221; and it has reached the point where it may or may not be leveraged. In fact, I would like to see Arif work on location or in interviews, but his priority is &#8220;Arif Times&#8221; (TV Asahi), and there is no room in his schedule.</span></p>
<p> In October, &#8220;news zero&#8221; introduced a system of partners for each day of the week for a period of three months. Currently, former &#8220;Keyakizaka 46&#8221; member Neru Nagahama, artist Tomoe Shinohara, and professional climber Keiyo Noguchi are participating. In addition, the program has shifted to a more female-oriented format, including the use of Natsuki Taki, who has returned from maternity leave, but &#8220;the struggle seems to be the same,&#8221; an entertainment professional analyzes.</p>
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<h3>Sho Sakurai&#8217;s Limitations Emerge</h3>
<p> It seems that he has taken steps to adopt the &#8220;female perspective,&#8221; but why is it likely that he will not improve in the future? A person involved in the entertainment business commented.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> During the Ariyuki era, the only celebrity to be used was Sho Sakurai. Since the nightly news requires a robust image, the station has been conscious of the affinity between the image of the celebrity and the news report. However, now that standard has become a bit of a cliché. So, for the time being, we are conducting an &#8220;experiment&#8221; by changing the Tuesday-Thursday partner every three months. But even if they appear only on certain days of the week, the viewers do not stick with them and the numbers do not respond.</span></p>
<p> Sakurai, the mainstay of the program, is not as strong as he was a few years ago, due in part to his marriage and other factors.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Even when Sakurai appears on the program, fans of Arashi rarely watch &#8220;news zero. The mismatch has deepened due to the headwind of the criticism of the office&#8217;s reporting stance on the sexual assault issue, and Sakurai has become jittery as a result.</span></p>
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<p> (A source in the entertainment industry) Because &#8220;news zero&#8221; has just introduced a partner system, there has been no talk of termination of the program yet. The difficult situation continues, but even so, there was a glimmer of hope in the recent election for the House of Representatives.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The only hope is the viewer ratings for the special program on the recent Lower House election,&#8221; he said. Fujii and Sakurai&#8217;s &#8220;NNN House of Representatives Election zero Election 2024&#8221; went head-to-head with TV Asahi&#8217;s &#8220;Arido Times. The average household viewership for &#8220;Arimoto Times&#8221; was 9.7%, while that for &#8220;zero Election 2024&#8221; was 8.7%. Although they lost in the end, it is clear from the fact that they put up a good fight that what viewers want from &#8220;news zero&#8221; is to deal with news head-on. Next January</span><span class="strongInContent"> A new partner is being selected for &#8220;news zero&#8221; starting next January on the condition that it can handle hard-hitting news.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> News programs take time to become established. Since Fujii was replaced in April of this year, the station is supposed to wait and see for a year even if the numbers are not good. Even within the station, there is a feeling that if the numbers drop by 1-2%, they will give it a little more effort.</span></p>
<p> Will the station be able to regain its presence as the &#8220;face of the night&#8221; again?</p>
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 The decline in viewer ratings for Nippon TV's "news zero," the "face" of the evening program, has been unstoppable, and although a "partner system" featuring female celebrities was introduced in October, the effect has not been great. What on earth is going on? ......

Viewer ratings continue to decline&#8230; NTV&#8217;s &#8220;news zero&#8221; is in danger of being taken over by a program with no effect despite major adjustments.

Viewer ratings continue to decline… NTV’s “news zero” is in danger of being taken over by a program with no effect despite major adjustments.

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