Behind the Scenes of Casting Sandwich Man After Wide na Show

Breaking Free from a Negative Image

The information variety program “Wide na Show” (Fuji TV) will end in March 2025, as reported by various media outlets on December 12.

“The concept of the show, which started in October 2013, was to have famous celebrities, typically covered on wide shows, express their opinions on entertainment news and social issues. However, after the departure of the main host, Hitoshi Matsumoto (61), in March 2023, the show’s ratings declined. Despite attempts to fill the gap with big names like Koji Imada (58) and Atsushi Tamura (51) as guest hosts or substitutes, the numbers didn’t improve. For example, on December 8, the average household rating was 3.3% (according to Video Research, Kanto region), which was far behind the 10.4% earned by the rival show “Sunday Japon” (TBS).” (Sports tabloid entertainment reporter)

On December 15, during the broadcast of “Wide na Show,” host Koji Higashino (57) said, “No comment. There’s a lot of confusing information flying around,” but later, on his radio program, he commented, “Honestly, everything is slipping through the cracks between my fingers,” subtly acknowledging the show’s cancellation.

So, the focus shifts to the successor program. According to a Fuji TV insider, “A new program featuring that highly likable duo is set to start.”

“The rumor is that ‘Sandwich Man’ will be doing a street-walking program. The tentative title is ‘Sanpo Witch Man.’ ‘Wide na Show’ suffered from negative image issues, such as Matsumoto’s alleged sexual misconduct and the controversy surrounding his teasing of co-host Rino Sashihara (32), which was labeled as sexual harassment. To overcome that, the clean and highly likable ‘Sandwich Man’ was chosen. The show will air on Sunday afternoons when there are many family viewers.”

The problem is that the duo already does street location segments on “Kaere Monday Mikke Tai!!” (TV Asahi), so the content may overlap. How they differentiate their new program will be crucial.

Will “Sandwich Man” take over after “Wide na Show”? Fuji TV’s PR department responded to Friday Digital’s inquiry: “We do not comment on the details of programming changes.”

Will “Sandwich Man” become Fuji’s “Sunday Afternoon Face”?