Ousted from Fuji for Harassment…Osamu Sorimachi’s “Video Reputation” Revived on YouTube Channel

His contract was not renewed at the end of June…

Osamu Sorimachi, 61, former director of Fuji Television Network and anchor of BS Fuji’s news program “Prime News,” started an interview program “Osamu Sorimachi no Soko ga Kaitai! on the YouTube channel “NEXTV LAB” on August 1.

Sorimachi, along with other executives, resigned from the board of directors on March 27 this year due to a series of problems between former TV personality Masahiro Nakai (52) and Fuji Television Network. In the report of the third-party committee released on March 31, he was accused of harassment against a subordinate in 2007, and he suspended his appearance on “Prime News. In addition, his contract was not extended until the end of June, and he left the program and left the company.

On August 1, “Soko ga Kikanai‼” uploaded the first part of a video interview with Yuichiro Tamaki, 56, the representative of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), who had just finished the Upper House election. At the beginning of the video, Mr. Sorimachi mentioned his departure for the first time in response to a question from a staff member.

Sorimachi apologized, saying, “To those who have supported ‘Prime News’ for a really long time, I am truly and deeply sorry about this, that I left in April without any explanation. He recalled that he was “resolved” when his contract was not extended, and said, “Television has the Broadcasting Law. Compared to that, the Internet has freedom. I will thoroughly pursue the direction Japan should take in the future on the Internet. I can never say, ‘Please look forward to it,’ but I will do my best,” he said enthusiastically.

I’ll do my best,” he said enthusiastically. “Perhaps I’ve had a hard day’s work, but I look a lot worse than when I was on ‘Prime News. Although the Shukan Bunshun (Weekly Bunshun) reported Sorimachi’s harassment issue in 2006, no action was taken against him, and he subsequently rose through the ranks. Many employees were antagonistic toward him.

Mr. Sorimachi was favored by Hisashi Hieda, who had been the “don” of the station for many years, but under the new administration of President Kenji Shimizu (64), people from the Hieda faction were almost completely removed from key posts. Even if there had been no harassment issue, it is possible that Sorimachi’s contract might not have been extended.

Speaking skills from the “Prime News” days are still alive and well

The video interview with Mr. Tamaki was recorded on July 29.

He said, “Good night. （It was hot (during the House of Councillors election), but from the perspective of Yuichiro Tamaki, who competed in the decathlon (when he was at the University of Tokyo), that’s nothing to worry about, right?

Sorimachi started off by casually mentioning Tamaki’s sports background and then proceeded to be an exquisite listener as Tamaki talked about the Upper House election and political affairs in an orderly fashion.

The first part of the interview video was viewed 130,000 times (as of August 8), the second part of the interview video uploaded on the 2nd had 83,000 views, and a separate program, “I’ll Answer Your Questions,” in which Tamaki asked questions solicited from the viewers, was uploaded on the 4th and recorded 120,000 views. The number of registered viewers grew to 198,800.

The show’s popularity was a testament to Tamaki’s speaking ability during his “Prime News” days. In the interview, he visited Mr. Tamaki’s speech several times, and revealed eyewitness accounts that no other media outlet had reported, which impressed Mr. Tamaki.

We can expect more big-name politicians to appear in the future through Mr. Sorimachi’s connections. Although his exchange with Mr. Tamaki was calm throughout, we can expect more heated exchanges like those that took place during the “Prime News” days. It seems that he will be a super YouTuber who will threaten other political YouTubers.

The key is “how well connected you are.

In the broad sense of “touching on political topics,” the majority of political YouTubers are intellectuals who talk about politics. It is rare to find YouTubers like Sorimachi who directly confront big-name politicians. Can Sorimachi succeed as a YouTuber with this style?

Journalist Shinji Nakamura, a former NHK employee who also worked on political programs, said , “This is just my impression based on the video of the first part of the interview with Tamaki,” but he has nothing but high hopes.

First of all, there was no sarcasm in the video at the beginning when he was talking about leaving Fuji. In the part where he expresses his aspirations, his statements that “Japan is entering a difficult period” and “I will thoroughly pursue the direction that Japan should take in the future” show that he started YouTube with a sense of crisis and determination.

As for the content, it is nice to have someone like Mr. Tamaki, a member of the National Democratic Party of Japan who made great strides in the Upper House election, whom many people want to hear from, and to be able to listen to him in depth. The viewers can understand what he is talking about and what the KDP is doing based on that theory. Television interviews are short and cut out, so you don’t get that much out of them. There is no other opportunity like this, so I think this style is good.

However, he also has some reservations about the future.

It would be nice if we could keep inviting big names like Tamaki, but is that possible?　I have high expectations for Sorimachi’s personal connections. The shorter videos may be more popular with viewers, but even if the numbers don’t increase, I hope that you will continue with this style without pandering. However, the microphone in the first part of the interview was difficult to hear, which was a waste of time,” said Nakamura.

Indeed, as Mr. Nakamura pointed out, some criticized the quality of the video, saying that the audio was difficult to hear and the screen was dull. Mr. Sorimachi wrote in his X message on January 1, “Sorry for the poor audio! 　The second part of Tamaki’s video was posted on his X page, saying, ” The production team will try to see if the channel selection can be adjusted. There were also complaints that the thumbnails for the first and second parts of the video interview with Mr. Tamaki were the same, making it difficult to understand, and it appears that this was addressed later.

Sorimachi’s YouTube channel is still undergoing some trial and error, but for the time being, it seems to be off to a good start.

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