The reason why TBS’s Ai Eto is very active now!

On January 15, a stage greeting was held to express gratitude for the blockbuster success of the movie “99.9 – Criminal Lawyer – The Movie” starring Matsumoto Jun (38), and TBS’s Eto Ai (36) served as MC.

The stage greeting was MC’d by TBS announcer Ai Eto, 36, who doesn’t have many regular programs. The MC for the stage greetings is usually an announcer who doesn’t have many regular programs. There are two reasons why Eto was chosen. One reason is that she played the role of a newscaster in the first season of the drama. The other reason is that the film is an adaptation of a popular series that TBS is focusing on.

Eto also MC’d the press conference to announce the production of “Sinking of Japan: A Man of Hope,” a Sunday theater co-produced with Netflix, and it was because it was an important press conference for the station that the ace announcer was chosen. In fact, Eto drew out episodes from all the performers and was thanked by the media who came to cover the event.

Last year, Eto was ranked 8th in Oricon’s “Favorite Female Announcer Ranking”. I’m not sure what to make of that.

She joined the company in 2009, and her peer is Minami Tanaka (35). For a while, attention was focused on the highly idolized Tanaka, while Eto had a low profile. While Tanaka was becoming more and more of a celebrity, Eto steadily improved her career by assisting on programs with big-name MCs such as Mino Monta (77). As popular TV announcers went freelance one after another, Eto found herself becoming the face of the station.

Currently, she is an assistant for the information program “Hiruobi! which she has appeared on since 2012, and as a sub-caster for “THE TIME,” which she started last fall, on Thursdays and Fridays. In recognition of his contribution to the station, he was promoted to “Top Specialist, Expert Special Assignment,” the rank of section chief, in his 12th year with the company last spring.

In the public’s mind, he may have had his breakthrough in the past few years, but within the station, he had been fighting for his schedule for the past five years. The team in charge of information programs such as “Hiruobi! The team in charge of information programs such as “Hiruobi! I was allowed to appear in “Bananaman no Sekkaku Gourmet” because it was a narration, but I was basically refused to appear in variety shows. It is said that her appearance on “The Time,” was made possible at the insistence of her boss, super ace analyst Shinichiro Azumi (48),” says a TBS insider.

It is said that the reason why TBS values her so much is because of her strong loyalty to the station.

Even before the Covid-19 disaster, television advertising costs were declining, and more and more stations were turning to the active use of station announcers to cut costs. Popular female announcers are like their own talent, so to speak. By giving preferential treatment to loyal announcers, they want to prevent the outflow of promising talent.

The Covid-19 disaster has changed the tastes of viewers, and there is growing support for announcers like Fujii Takahiko (50) of Nippon Television Network Corporation, who are not flashy but are close to their viewers. In addition to her ability and name recognition, Anna Eto has a calmness that matches the modern trend. The day when she and Azumi are called “W-Ace” may be near.

The definition of an ace analyst is likely to change drastically in the TV industry in Japan.

From “FRIDAY” February 4, 2022 issue