Can comedians and TV personalities expand their work if they can’t edit videos? The TV world is watching the “short video” boom

Short Video” Boom Drawing Attention from the TV World

NTV, KDDI, and CyberAgent have teamed up to produce “Bikkuri Irando,” a short vertical variety show featuring AI and humans, which will be distributed from November 17.

The program is quite spirited, featuring Toshifumi Fujimoto (54) and Sayuri Matsumura (33). Vertical short dramas,” which are short dramas of one to two minutes in length suitable for viewing on mobile phones, are popular, and it will be interesting to see if this variety version will take root.

The number of programs such as “After My Husband Sleeps” (TV Asahi), in which Miki Fujimoto (40) and Natsuko Yokozawa (35) serve as MCs, has been increasing as their clipped videos have been popular on TikTok, boosting viewer ratings and the number of views on missed broadcasts, and the stations are putting effort into uploading short videos on their official SNS.

Most of the videos are shot by program directors on a whim, but for movies and TV dramas that appeal to the younger generation, there are cases in which they employ staff specializing in social networking. Fans and viewers clipping and reprinting programs without permission would normally be considered copyright infringement, but if there is no malicious intent and the video contributes to the promotion of the program, many key stations may tacitly allow it.

Some unknown comedians are beginning to earn high incomes by using short videos.

Miyatofilm (36) of “Omutantsu,” who created a sensation with his impersonation of an unfriendly store clerk at the popular apparel brand “Supreme,” has almost no TV exposure as a duo, but he sometimes earns nearly 1 million yen a month from short videos alone. CRAZY COCO (39), a former foreign company CA, rarely performs in theaters, but his short videos on SNS have been popular, and he has been making more appearances on TV” (production company director).

On the other hand, there are those who say that it is difficult for comedians who start out with short videos to get their big break.

Short videos, such as the “National Treasure-like Movie Series” and “A Certain Kind of Resident of XXX Prefecture,” are more important for their topicality and empathy than for their fun factor. Even if you invite a “short video comedian” to a comedy show, if the timing is off, it won’t be popular. There was a time when stations used YouTubers in response to their growing popularity, but their funniest videos are only as good as the editing. But their fun is only possible when they are edited. They were not appealing enough for live broadcasts or as commentators, so they became disposable,” said a broadcaster.

Saying so, this broadcaster continued, “We have entered a phase where comedians and TV personalities cannot expand their work unless they can edit videos.

The TV recession has led to a sharp decline in auditions. There is no room to send staff to theaters to discover promising talent. Therefore, the only way for unknown talent to be considered for casting is to get their videos buzzing on SNS and YouTube. Nowadays, video editing skills are required even behind the scenes, and young broadcasters are sometimes hired on the condition that they can edit videos.

However, those involved are skeptical about whether big-name TV personalities will enter the market.

It’s not a world where if it’s funny, it will get buzz, and the results are immediately shown in the numbers,” said a source. It is too big a risk for the big names.

Will the short video boom end up being a local phenomenon?

From the November 28/December 5, 2025 issue of FRIDAY