Japan TV stations cutting costs…New faces may arrive!

November 17, 2009 by Toonleap
Filed under Japan, News, Oddities

Japan TV stations are having a bad time so They are cutting some costs…You will some changes in the news as well, with new faces.

In a desperate bid to cut production costs amid a sharp decline in advertising revenues, major private broadcasters have effectively given the boot to a number of well-known newscasters as part of their programming schedules for autumn.

Christel Takigawa, 32, who had worked for “News Japan,” a Fuji TV news program broadcast since October 2002, and Baku Owada, 59, who had served as a host for “Wide! Scramble,” a TV Asahi information variety program for 11 years, parted company with the respective programs on Sept. 25. Two days later, actress Rei Kikukawa, 31, left NTV news program “Shinso Hodo Bankisha!” after seven years.

In all three cases, the newscasters claimed to be “moving on,” while their vacant spots were filled by other members of staff.

The stations’ reasons for the departures included such explanations as “Takigawa offered to step down” (Fuji TV), “The move coincides with a fresh approach for the 15th anniversary of the program” (TV Asahi), and “It’s just part of ordinary changes in the host of the show” (NTV).

The number of TV commercials has been falling since fiscal 2005, due partly to the rise of Internet advertising. This has meant that many TV stations have had to tighten their fiscal belts.

According to Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry data, 195 terrestrial TV and radio stations were in the red to the tune of 21.2 billion yen in total, as of the end of fiscal 2008–the first time a deficit had been recorded since the end of fiscal 1976, when records first began.

Against this background, TV Asahi reduced production costs by 15 billion yen this fiscal year, a 16.6 percent cut compared with the previous fiscal year, while NTV cut about 14.2 billion yen, a drop of 12.7 percent.

Other cost-cutting efforts include a reduction in affiliated overseas locations and a cut in the number of cameras used, and reducing the number of programs that are recorded into the wee hours, when costs are more expensive.

Ultimately, such measures have trickled down to the cast of each show. TV personalities often command as much as several million yen per show, according to a TV station staffer.

“People have started thinking that program hosts don’t necessarily have to be TV personalities,” the official said.

If a TV station appoints a regular member of staff to act as an announcer, they are not obliged to pay an extra appearance fee.

This recent trend also has spread to variety shows: TV personality Eriko Kusuta, 57, who had worked for NTV’s “Sekai Marumie! Terebi Tokusobu” for 19 years, parted company with the show on Sept. 28.

“It’s obvious that these recent parting of the ways are down to production cost cuts and downsizing at TV stations,” said Tokyo University of Technology Prof. Hiroyoshi Usui, an expert in media science who also had a long career as a producer at a production company.

“With only a few exceptions, TV companies have neglected to educate their announcers with regard to utilizing them effectively in their programs. It’s a good time for such companies to reconsider how to utilize their human resources,” Usui said.

Source: Yomiuri