Budget Cuts Hit “Love It!” as New Production Direction Reduces Location Shoots

What will change with the renewal of Love It!?

Daisuke Murai, who served as the second producer of “Love It!” (TBS), revealed on his X account that he would be leaving the program after the final week of March broadcasts.

“He had been serving as chief director since January 2025, but it seems he’ll be removed from production due to a personnel transfer. Perhaps because of this staffing change, some reports claimed that ‘Love It!’ would undergo a renewal, but there won’t be any major reforms,” said a TBS insider.

The show launched in spring 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic had begun to settle down, under the concept of Japan’s brightest morning program. Its style of a morning variety show packed with comedians and talents in the studio felt fresh, and it gradually expanded its fanbase, especially among comedy fans.

“The limited-time shop ‘Rappy Department Store,’ centered around merchandise for the program’s official character Rappy, was hugely successful. The music-and-comedy live event ‘Love It! Rock,’ featuring the show’s regular cast members, was also well received, but there were so many performers and staff involved that even sold-out tickets apparently only brought the event to break-even profitability (laughs).

Catch-up streaming is also doing well, but television ratings themselves have stagnated, so it seems the budget will be reduced with the change in chief director. From spring onward, location shoots will drastically decrease, and there are plans to increase projects completed entirely in the studio. They also say the number of regular cast members will gradually be reduced,” the same TBS insider explained.

Although it is now a popular program, a broadcast writer said that when the show first started, its reputation within the industry was poor, and with its low ratings, people thought it would be canceled immediately.

“It wandered aimlessly because the content felt halfway between a variety show and an information program. What ultimately defined the direction and popularity of the show was its collaboration project with ‘Wednesday Downtown’ broadcast in October 2021. The concept was pretty aggressive: Ano-chan was remotely directed by five skilled comedians, including Cookie! (50) from Yasei Bakudan and Junior Chihara (52), to get bigger laughs in ogiri comedy than the regular cast members. That instantly drew in comedy fans.”

A production company director also praised the program highly.

“Even the short VTR segments are carefully made—it’s practically a textbook for variety television. Some producers even tell younger staff, ‘Watch this because it’s educational.’ Another strength is that the program has produced breakout comedians like Aoki Matcho (30).

Yamazoe Kan from Aiseki Start (40), who had a strong image as a trashy comedian, also gained recognition through ‘Love It!’ for his strength in ogiri comedy and his skill at handling live broadcasts, causing his reputation within the industry to rise dramatically. Every TV network uses the show as a casting reference, and there are many talent agencies saying, ‘Forget the appearance fee—we just want our talent on the show.’”

While there may not be a drastic renewal, the change in chief director could still alter the color of the program.

“For the past few years, TBS announcers appearing on ‘Love It!’ have consistently ranked near the top in favorite announcer rankings. That’s because while turning in-house announcers into celebrities is generally considered taboo, ‘Love It!’ has been successful at bringing out the personalities of the announcers. I hope they don’t change that part,” the same broadcast writer said.

Even if it struggles in the ratings, the impact this morning variety show has had on the television industry is enormous.

From the April 17–24, 2026 combined issue of “FRIDAY” magazine.