The increase in the number of “experimental slots for new programs” shows the “difficult situation” of TV stations

Fuji Television’s new “Monday PLUS” late-night variety program, “Enter Title Here,” has become a hot topic among TV people.

It was aired for six consecutive weeks with different themes and cast members, and it was just surreal, with Eiji Kotoge (46) of “Baikingu” split in half and separate programs recorded on the left and right halves of his body.

The shocking part was the final episode. The host, Terumoto Goto (48) of “Football Hour” and his comedian guests, including “Pekopa,” were made invisible, not shown on screen, and the sound was cut. The talk was given by a ticker tape, which was a novelty. The fact that the director, Kazumi Harada, had only been with the company for three years also attracted attention.

As we have pointed out in previous articles in this series, TV stations are making efforts to train and appoint young staff.

TV TOKYO held the “TV TOKYO Young Video Grand Prix 2022” for staff members under 30 years old. The grand prix was selected based on the number of views on YouTube and the votes of employees. The Grand Prix was selected based on the number of views on YouTube and votes by employees. The grand prix winner was broadcast as a special program on terrestrial television, and the aggressive content of the program, “a battle to determine who loves Japan in a fictitious country,” attracted a lot of attention, especially from comedy fans.

TV Asahi has also been broadcasting “Barabara Daisakusen,” a late-night variety program produced by producers and directors in their 20s and 30s, since 2008.

The core audience is the 13-49 year olds, but freelance staff who are strong with the younger generation have drifted to other industries, such as web media. This is why the executives of the key stations are now doing the heavy lifting in order to train their own young viewers.

In addition to nurturing their own young staff, the key stations are also “actively rejuvenating their staff by hiring broadcasters in their 20s who have been active on YouTube. “They are working hard to rejuvenate their staff,” says an executive at a key station.

The number of programs linked to YouTube has been increasing. The younger staff members know what is popular on YouTube, and they also keep up with trends on SNS and other social networking sites, so they are very useful.

Of course, there is a downside to selecting young staff.

They are not familiar with the basics of program production, so they edit things in a messy way or come up with projects they have seen somewhere before without hesitation. The truth is that they are difficult to deal with because they may have weak hearts, and when you give them a bad idea, they get depressed and take a day off.

A senior executive at a key station laments, “There are many cases of staff members who do not want their young employees to grow and are dragging them down.

One broadcaster who became a successful broadcaster by successfully taking advantage of popular comedians and producers said, “Whenever a promising young talent emerges, they immediately try to crush him or her by talking behind his or her back or spreading bad rumors. The staff members who know how they do this hate them, but if a popular comedian asks for them, they have no choice but to use them. However, they are so disliked that recently there has been a reversal of the situation, with popular comedians getting less and less work.

The reality is that it is not a simple matter to nurture young talent, although this is an urgent task in the TV industry.

From the July 8, 2022 issue of FRIDAY