Nippon TV announces new president, Hiroyuki Fukuda

Nippon TV, Japan's leading multiplatform entertainment powerhouse, announced that Hiroyuki Fukuda, former Executive Vice President and Executive Officer, has been promoted to Representative Director, President and Chief Operating Officer of Nippon TV from January 1st, 2025. He replaces Akira Ishizawa who will serve as the Representative Director of the newly established Yomiuri Chukyo FS Broadcasting Holdings Corporation from January 1st, 2025.

Quote from Hiroyuki Fukuda, Representative Director, President and Chief Operating Officer, Nippon TV: 'I am extremely honored to be appointed to become Representative Director, President and Chief Operating Officer of Nippon TV effective January 1, 2025, upon the announcement of the establishment of Yomiuri Chukyo FS Broadcasting Holdings Corporation (FYCS).

I joined Nippon TV in 1985 and since being assigned to the On-Air Commercial Operations Department of the Sales Division, I have dedicated my journey exclusively to the television industry. My role has spanned positions in both the Programming and Sales Divisions, culminating in my leadership as Divisional President of the Production Division and President of the Programming Division, I became Board Director and Chief Content Officer in charge of Content Strategy and Corporate Strategy. Until June of this year, I will continue to oversee these roles'.

'In 2024, Nippon TV maintained the position at the top of the individual viewer ratings share for the Golden Time category, albeit tied with a competitor. Although the share of our strategic core target (viewers aged 13 to 49) remained high, enabling us to achieve lucrative advertising sales, the second-ranked broadcaster is fiercely trying to catch up. With the downward trend in PUT (Persons Using Television) showing no signs of slowing down, we face the immediate and urgent challenge of acquiring and maintaining the volume of our individual and core target demographics'.

 Increasing the share of revenue from sources other than broadcasting is an important goal, but we must start by fundamentally reviewing our approach to the annual viewer ratings battle and building a strong timetable for our broadcasting business. Morale across our content creation teams remains tremendously high, and barring any errors in our approach, we will recover. Strengthening the timetable is also an initiative that will form the basis for expanding our content business.

Meanwhile, our high level of dependence on our broadcasting business remains the biggest risk. In the upcoming “New Medium-Term Management Plan 2025-2027”, we aim to further expand and develop the ‘content-centric strategy’ stipulated in the current plan as the Nippon TV Group that is highly valued in the global market, one that boasts powerful IP assets, and contributes to people’s well-being. To achieve this, we will work to transform our business portfolio and reduce our dependence on broadcasting revenue. Active proposals from relevant departments and group companies are already underway.

Furthermore, striving to transform our business through technology, we are actively promoting the use of AI concierges to improve the efficiency of the content creation process and our very own Ad Reach Max (Nippon TV’s proprietary technology that provides a platform for advertising slot transactions), which aims to create new value in ad sales.

For the past 11 years, I have been chosen a "Kanji of the Year” to symbolize the guiding principle for my team. And for 2025, the chosen character is 動 (Movement). This signifies our commitment to move towards the new goals outlined in the “New Medium-Term Management Plan”. In these challenging times, our survival depends on visualizing our goals and immediately start moving towards to achieve them. If we stand still, we will simply be swallowed up by the flow of the times and the inevitable. It is time to fight back.

At the start of this Year, I received many encouraging messages from my role models.

'Television stations have a duty to deliver reliable information to as many people as possible. Achieving high ratings is essential to fulfilling this responsibility. Spare no effort in gathering accurate information'

'Television’s potential is limitless. Expand your business domains and pursue new possibilities'.

Their messages have filled me with courage and vigor.

At a time of drastic change in the media industry and the business environment in general, I feel that I have been fated to take on this role as ours battle for survival is reaching its climax. With the support of approximately 10,000 executives and employees across our 60subsidiaries within Nippon TV Holdings where I was also appointed Representative Director, President, and Chief Operating Officer. I am committed to leading our group in my own way.

 

 

LC