Unfolding YouTubers’ Continuous Expansion into TV

Sorachi (25) of the YouTubers group “AVNTIS” appeared in the drama series “Gossip- #What She Wants to Know” (Fuji TV) broadcast on January 27, attracting a lot of attention.

She played the role of a YouTuber who disappears during a live broadcast at a crime scene. Recently, more and more YouTubers are appearing in dramas “(TV magazine editor).

Last fall, college student YouTuber Ryuga (21) appeared in the late-night drama “This First Love is a Fiction” (TBS), and “Rinko Wants to Try” (Rinko-san wa Shitekitai) was aired. Yun (27) ) of “Vamyun” makes regular appearances on the TBS series.

 On the other hand, you-tubers are having a hard time maintaining their popularity. They want to belong to an entertainment agency or expand their appearances to TV in order to find new avenues of activity, so the interests of both parties seem to be aligned. The reason why there are so many out-of-season Yutubers such as “AVNTIS” and “Vamyun” appearing in dramas is probably because top Yutubers turn down the offers. The pay is not high enough for the time that they need to commit,” said an ad agency official.

Hikaru (30), who gained recognition through his collaboration with Hiroyuki Miyasako (51), is also eager to enter the TV market.

Hikaru appeared on the February 17 broadcast of “Zettai Kikkaku Taro” (TV Tokyo). He must have half meant it when he flirted with Jun Nakura (53), a fellow “Neptune” MC, saying, “I’m ready to switch” from Mr. Miyasako to Mr. Nakura. While other YouTubers who were active at the same time, such as “Mizutamari Bond ,” have stalled, he has been expanding his activities largely because he paired up with Miyasako, who was a popular comedian. When he saw that Miyasako was starting to get bored, he ended their collaboration. In order to continue to provide topics as a YouTuber, he has to develop TV and find talents to collaborate with” (video editing staff).

As a result of being aware of young people in the television industry, YouTube is becoming more popular.

This spring, “London Hearts” (TV Asahi) will be shortened from one hour to 30 minutes. The trend is to edit one-hour programs to be able to make a cutout video. The cut-out parts are then uploaded on the official YouTube site to generate revenue.

YouTube-style editing is also on the rise.

All the stations are putting a lot of effort into their official YouTube channels. Previously, they used to upload the next week’s preview as it was shown on TV, but they are putting more effort into YouTube-style thumbnails and producing original videos. In the past, new talent and comedians were discovered by employees and others by going to live shows, but with the Covid-19 causing cancellations across the board, there are more opportunities to discover talent on YouTube. The most recent example of this is the rapid increase in the number of young talents from the Internet appearing on impersonation  shows.

Looking at the number of big-name TV personalities entering YouTube one after another, it is safe to say that it has already become borderless.

From the March 22, 2022 issue of FRIDAY