Is the end of the program a “flip-flop” by NHK in response to the “Nakai problem”? The depths of the end of “Waruiko Atsumare

Failed to attract younger viewers?

On February 12, NHK announced its new program lineup for the new fiscal year, and it was announced that “Waruiko Atsumare,” an educational variety show featuring Goro Inagaki (51), Tsuyoshi Kusanagi (50), and Shingo Katori (48) of “New Map,” would end its broadcast.

The program will be replaced by “The Thing That Doesn’t Seem to Be Done on NHK (tentative),” featuring the TV personality Yasuko (26). The program will be a new type of youth-supporting variety show for Generation Z based on projects that young people want to watch and keywords that they may be interested in, so that the younger generation will watch NHK more.

Waluiko” was broadcast as a special program in ’21 and became a regular program in April ’22. The concept of the program is “an educational variety show that both children and adults can enjoy. The program was a hit when it first began airing, with innovative programs such as the “Children’s Press Conference,” in which children dressed up as reporters and asked “direct questions” to the guests.

However, in April of last year, the broadcast slot was shifted from 10:00 a.m. on Saturdays to 11:00 p.m. on Tuesdays on E-television. Then, it was unable to compete with “news zero” (NTV), “news23” (TBS), and “London Hearts” (TV Asahi), which were all in the same time slot, and its average household viewer rating slumped to the low 2% range. In the end, it was also unable to capture the younger generation of viewers,” said a reporter in charge of broadcasting.

After “SMAP” broke up at the end of 2004, the three members became independent from the former Johnny’s office in September 2005. As a result, their regular terrestrial programs came to an end one after another.

Was the end of the program “Nakai’s fault”?

At the time, it was an unspoken agreement that former Johnny’s ex-partners could not appear on terrestrial TV. The three independent members quickly teamed up with ABEMA, an Internet TV station that did not use any of the former Johnny’s talents and did not have to be beholden to the former Johnny’s. In July 2007, the former Johnny’s team was allowed to appear on terrestrial TV.

In July 2007, NHK reported that the Fair Trade Commission had issued a warning to the former Johnny’s on suspicion that they had pressured ABEMA not to use the three. Even so, while commercial broadcasters were reluctant to use the three members, “Waruiko” became the first program in which all three members returned to national terrestrial broadcasting.

After the JFTC’s warning, NHK cast Inagaki in the morning drama series “Scarlet” in the second half of 1919, the drama “Kirei no Kuni” in 2009, and the drama “Tsubame wa Mawaru Konnnai (Tsubame Will Not Return)” in 2012. Kusanagi was cast in the 21-year historical drama “Seiten wo Sukuke” and the late 23-year morning drama “Boogie Woogie,” and Katori was cast in the lead role in the 21-year special drama “Lun Dun No Yamamoto Gojuroku.

Add to that the regularized “Waruiko,” and it is obvious that the three of them have been heavily used compared to the private key stations. Nevertheless, some have pointed out NHK’s “flip-flopping” in terminating “Waruiko” at the same time that former SMAP member Masahiro Nakai announced his retirement in January due to female troubles.

Some people thought that behind NHK’s heavy use of the three members of “New Map” was the fact that NHK was looking ahead to the reunion of SMAP. Certainly, the fact that the decision to cancel the program was made so quickly is undeniable, in part because of the indirect collateral damage caused by Mr. Nakai.

However, “New Map” has established a business model that does not rely on terrestrial appearances, such as movies and stage performances, and the current three members have already been able to appear on commercial key stations as before, with uninterrupted commercial offers. Fuji Television is airing “Japan’s Worst Man *My Family Was a Fake”, a drama starring Katori. In a sense, it would be more correct to say that “Waruiko,” which was the first of its kind to feature the three members who had been away from terrestrial broadcasting, has completed its role,” said a journalist in charge of broadcasting.

(A reporter in charge of broadcasting) “It must have become difficult recently for the three, who have been getting busier and busier, to keep up with each other’s schedules. In that sense, the end of “Waruiko” may be called a “developmental dissolution.

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