On March 4th, Nippon Television held a briefing at its headquarters (Minato Ward, Tokyo) regarding its April programming changes, where it announced the launch of a new news program. The program will air on Saturdays from 10:00 PM to 10:54 PM. In conjunction with this, the music program "with MUSIC," which airs in the same time slot, will end in March, bringing an end to its roughly two-year history.
This will be the first time in about 24 years that the station has launched a new news program since "The Truth Report Bankisha!" (Sunday 6pm). The station aims to create a reliable, entertaining and exciting program that will respond to the voices of those who say, "I want to watch it now" and "I don't know what to believe." Ooi Hideo, head of the Content Strategy Bureau's General Programming Center, explained the aim of the program, saying, "Nippon TV was the only station without a news program in the prime time slot, so we wanted to create something new at 10pm on Saturdays."
When asked about the fact that the show will be a "battleground" that overlaps with news programs from other stations, he said, "In the 10 p.m. time slot, unless it's content that people are actively watching, people won't watch it in real time. I'm not saying that 'with MUSIC' was bad, but I think news programs are a genre that can be watched by a wider audience." When asked about the details, he said, "We will provide more details at a later date."
