<figure id="attachment_416499" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-416499" style="width: 7148px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="3787eb69"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/03/2498ad12c02be44421ec43c879f3a1a4.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-416499" class="wp-caption-text">Home run in the first at-bat of the open game!</figcaption></figure>
<h2> All stations have become &#8220;Otani exclusive channels&#8221;!</h2>
 The baseball spring has arrived!
 MLB held the &#8220;MLB Tokyo Series 2025&#8221; from March 15 to 19. The Los Angeles Dodgers, with three Japanese pitchers, Shohei Otani (30), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (26), and Akinori Sasaki (23), and the Chicago Cubs, with Seiya Suzuki (30) and Shota Konaga (31), will play in Japan. The tickets were fiercely contested.
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<figure id="attachment_416583" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-416583" style="width: 1179px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="eb5e4999"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/03/ecef72523eea37e9d7802c139fe2c1a9.png" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-416583" class="wp-caption-text"> On the day tickets went on sale, hundreds of thousands of people flooded the sales website. Is this a dream? (from NTV website)</figcaption></figure>
 The Otani fever has finally started this year, but not all Nippon citizens are happy about it. In particular, many people in the TV industry are depressed.
 One director in charge of an information program said, &#8220;When the MLB season starts, I am very happy.
 When the MLB season starts, Otani will definitely be the headline news. And unless there is a major incident or accident, this situation will continue until the end of the season. The morning, noon, and night news are all about Otani. The next day, Otani, Otani, Otani, Otani &#8230;&#8230; no joke.&#8221; It&#8217;s a channel dedicated to Otani.&#8221;
 It is true that last year, every information program and news program featured Otani prominently.
 It is true that last year, every information program and news program featured Otani. &#8220;Otani is the one content that is sure to get viewer ratings and is safe and secure for our programs. We can&#8217;t afford not to report on him.
 This year, Otani&#8217;s two-faced style is expected to make a comeback. If he can hit and throw well, the length of the broadcast will double. It is expected that the Otani fever will be even greater than last year.
 A broadcaster in charge of information and variety programs at a commercial broadcaster laments, &#8220;The material to be featured in the program will be broadcast on the Internet.
 I look for topics for my programs from the Internet, newspapers, and magazine articles, but even though it is before the season starts, the media is already full of articles about Otani. There is no end to it.
 The producer says, &#8216;Look for something about Otani that hasn&#8217;t been reported much,&#8217; but there&#8217;s rarely anything like that. I&#8217;m constantly thinking about Otani, whether I&#8217;m asleep or awake, and it makes me feel heavy. &#8230;&#8230;
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 TV crews are keenly aware that no matter how hard they try to cover the story, no matter how many VTRs they air, and no matter how many well-crafted plans they put together, nothing will ever come close to Otani&#8217;s home run.
 Will they continue to sink down with their &#8220;Otani allergy&#8221;?　Or will they break Otani&#8217;s stronghold and provide content that will be popular with the public?　The season may be the time to test the true value of TV people.

 Hisashi Niisa (Broadcaster)

 Afro

 Spring has arrived!　Major League Baseball has entered the open season. With the season opener in Tokyo, we can't wait to see how Shohei Otani will perform this season as he revives his two-fisted style of pitching. On the other hand, however, there are some people who are getting depressed as the season opener approaches.

The reason why TV crews are not happy about Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani’s great performance.

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