The Summer Showdown: How TV Asahi Is Fighting to Beat Fuji in Ratings

A renewed close relationship between TV Asahi and Junior

The “TV Asahi Summer Festival 2025,” held around Roppongi Hills at TV Asahi headquarters and the Mori Garden, is soon coming to an end. During the festival, various artist events took place, but particular attention was given to the “Banzai to Natsuyasumi” event, hosted by B&ZAI, members of STARTO ENTERTAINMENT (hereafter, STARTO), at EX Theater Roppongi from August 3 to 7.

At the EX Theater, “Tokyo Junior Next Generation 2025” ran from July 30 to August 1, “Ikuto Kawai × Four-Yu Lab LIVE!!!!!” took place on August 11 and 12, and “Nika Game” was held from August 14 to 16.

“Before the COVID-19 pandemic and the sexual abuse issues involving Johnny Kitagawa, the long-standing close relationship between Junior groups and the TV Asahi Summer Festival seems to have resumed,” a TV Asahi insider said.

“When EX Theater opened in November 2013, we heard it was basically a venue dedicated to Johnny’s. Many performances featured former Johnny’s talents as main casts, and concerts were frequent. Especially during summer vacations, Junior groups performed live in battle formats, and in conjunction with the TV Asahi Summer Festival, these groups became like image characters for the event. Pre-debut groups such as King & Prince and Snow Man in their six-member era also experienced this.”

Currently, Fuji TV, which is rebuilding a close relationship with STARTO, and Nippon TV, which has relied on King & Prince and Yū Yokoyama (44) of SUPER EIGHT for “24-Hour Television: Love Saves the Earth,” have been getting media attention. However, TV Asahi is aggressively pursuing its position, seemingly asserting, “We’ve had the longest-standing relationship here.”

“It’s especially the Junior groups that are close to TV Asahi. Since the days of ‘Hadaka no Shōnen,’ which aired on Saturday evenings as a ‘Junior food education program’ with high ratings, there has been a ‘Johnny’s slot.’ Even now, regular Junior programs such as ‘Kakueki!’ and ‘Naniwa Danshi no Gyakuten Danshi,’ featuring Naniwa Danshi, are broadcast. Junior groups have many members and not enough managers, so producers effectively take on that role. The relationship is unlike any other program.

Not only producers and directors at the station but also female desk staff at production companies were involved with the former Johnny’s programs. When Junior groups debuted with CDs and got their own shows, those people automatically handled production. This ended due to the sexual abuse issue, but the relationship resembled NHK’s ‘Shōnen Club,’ where many Junior talents were active,” an idol magazine writer said.

The exclusive management of Junior groups is inevitable

When the sexual abuse issue was reported, it also became widely known that a conference room in the old TV Asahi headquarters had been used as a private rehearsal space for the former Johnny’s office. Entertainment journalist Hiroyuki Sasaki commented:

“Amid whispers that such rooms became the scene, TV Asahi aired a special program on November 12, 2023, titled ‘TV Asahi: Examining the Former Johnny’s Issue.’ It was a one-hour program, but among all the verification programs broadcast by various networks, TV Asahi was judged to have the weakest investigation. This was likely because, given the deep relationship between the former Johnny’s office and TV Asahi, there were parts they didn’t want probed.

Looking at this year’s ‘TV Asahi Summer Festival’ and the EX-Theater schedule from late July to mid-August, it seems clear that TV Asahi wants to keep the Junior talents it has nurtured. Newly formed groups such as ACEes, B&ZAI, and KEY TO LIT are rumored to debut simultaneously, and if they release CDs, the TV Asahi staff who have been involved with them since their mid-teens are said to intensify this exclusive management.”

Not wanting Fuji TV or Nippon TV to acquire their Junior talents, TV Asahi may use this summer as an opportunity to increase regular programs for STARTO talent and arrange appearances on Music Station.

For the Juniors, whose morale had plummeted after the end of Shōnen Club, this is undoubtedly good news.