Earnings Without Breakthroughs — Are Prize Races Corrupting Variety?

Are the Proliferating Comedy Award Competitions Corrupting the Variety Industry?

A new comedy award competition to determine the dual champions of manzai and conte, Double Impact: Manzai & Conte Two-Way No.1 Championship 2025 (NTV), was held on July 21, with “Nippon no Shacho” winning the grand prize. However, dissatisfaction has already been voiced among TV insiders.

“You can choose whether to perform manzai or conte first, but of the seven finalist groups, only ‘Stamina Pan’ chose manzai; the rest chose conte. In that case, setting it so that the first performance was conte and the second was manzai would have been easier for viewers to follow. Also, although the competition billed itself as a two-way contest, not a few of the groups ended up performing conte-style manzai. It gave the impression that the concept itself had collapsed.” (Broadcast writer)

NTV also runs the W: Women’s Comedy No.1 Championship, while Fuji TV airs the R-1 Grand Prix for solo comedians and THE SECOND Manzai Tournament, which is only open to professional comedians with over 16 years of experience.

On top of that, this year TOKYO MX, celebrating its 30th anniversary, launched the MX Grand Prix: Underground Comedian Championship. In short, comedy competitions are multiplying.

“Almost all comedy competitions charge entry fees to participants, and tickets for preliminary rounds are always in high demand. Sponsors are easy to attract as well. For the TV stations hosting them, and for Yoshimoto Kogyo—who is heavily involved in running many of these events—it’s a profitable setup. With today’s TV industry slump, budgets and staff have been cut, making it harder for variety show teams to visit theaters to scout young comedians. These competitions have essentially become a showcase for promising comedians, and they’re highly valued.” (Production company director)

Among them, insiders say the one drawing the most attention is The W.

“The winners of The W have a particularly high success rate in breaking through. With the growing push for women’s advancement and gender equality, variety shows are featuring more female talent, making The W a must-watch competition for casting directors. Many in the TV industry want it to continue regardless of ratings, but with Double Impact now launched, concerns have begun to surface that The W may be discontinued.” (Broadcast writer)

However, the oversupply of competitions is already lowering their overall value.

“Outside of The W and M-1 Grand Prix (TV Asahi), even winning doesn’t create much of an impact or lead to a real breakthrough. Another problem is that in today’s climate—where judges themselves are scrutinized—big-name veteran comedians are increasingly reluctant to serve as judges.” (Key TV station producer)

There are also warnings about the negative effects of the industry’s dependence on competitions.

“For talents like Yasuko (26) or Eiko Kano (43), who shine outside of performing traditional comedy routines, it’s becoming harder to break into the scene. That’s a loss for the variety industry. The system of investing time and money into discovering young talents should be revived.” (Production company director)

Comedy competitions are a strong medicine—a quick and reliable way to generate ratings and revenue. But if overused, the side effects could be dangerous, and TV stations must weigh that risk carefully.

—From “FRIDAY”, August 22 & 29, 2025 issue