FCI Scales Back Its Programming
“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,” wrote Rudyard Kipling more than one hundred years ago and the words still have relevance today. Those who do not understand them are fated to meet with failure when butting up against that reality. The fact is that things are done differently in those parts of the world. One cannot try to transpose one’s values and expect the local populace to respond as one would like.
The latest organization to experience frustration in trying to promote its interests here in the United States is Fujisankei Communications International (FCI), which has severely cut back its television programming. It spent years and a substantial amount of money trying to build viewership both here in Los Angeles and in New York, only to consistently come up short. Now a corporate decision has been made to move FCI’s weekend programs to AZN Television. AZN Television broadcasts to 13 million households on cable, though not all cable companies carry the programming. Those interested in knowing whether the broadcasts are carried by their cable company can call their company or visit tvguide.com. Details are also available at www.azntv.com or FCI may be contacted at (310) 553-5852.
FCI has been adamant in refusing to make concessions to whatever American viewers it might have, in that none of its programming has been subtitled in English. (Some time in the distant past FCI News Express was subtitled in English but that was eliminated several years ago.) It was convinced that its quality broadcasts would attract an audience, but even though Los Angeles has the largest Japanese émigré population and first, second and third, etc., Issei, Nisei and Sansei, etc., generations of Japanese background of any region outside of Japan, it was hard for FCI to build a solid viewership. It could never seem to come up with promotional concepts to attract a loyal audience.
In Japan, Fuji Television is one of the five major commercial networks. (The five are Fuji Television, with its website at www.fujitv.co.jp/, Nippon Television, www.ntv.co.jp/, Tokyo Broadcasting System, www.tbs.co.jp/, TV Asahi, www.tv-asahi.co.jp/ and TV Tokyo, www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/.) Each of these networks have their own individual strengths. For instance, the Tokyo Broadcasting System caters to middle-of-the-road viewers while TV Asahi, like its newspaper counterpart which it is connected to corporately, the Asahi Shimbun, is more liberal politically.
Fuji Television is renowned for high quality dramatic productions. Those productions are always well produced, directed and acted, and often feature lavish production values. Naturally, this costs money and perhaps FCI, the international arm of Fuji Television, was hoping to recoup some of those costs through international marketing. It has to be a profound disappointment for FCI that this did not work out. This writer, for one, is also sad that this programming will no longer be aired. It certainly added a touch of class to the Japanese broadcast line-up. The substitute for that programming will be infomercials, which few viewers will welcome.
The one part of the FCI programming that will continue to be shown will be FCI News Express, though it moves to the 6:00 am to 7:00 am time slot. As noted above, this broadcast is not subtitled in English, but a summary of the day’s news stories can be found at fnn.fujitv.co.jp/en. (This is a truly bare bones summary, though. None of the nuances of the original program are offered. For instance, in many news stories someone is identified in the Japanese original as being “mushoku” or “unemployed,” although some of those people are in their seventies, at a time of life when not having a job would not be remarkable in the United States. However, that designation conveys an idea of that person’s place in society, something that is relevant to any Japanese. But how could this be explained in a satisfactory way in a news summary?)
The format of FCI News Express is as follows. From 6:00 am to approximately 6:20 am, the top news stories of the day are presented. The anchor is Ando Yuko of Fuji TV’s “News Japan” which is broadcast every night in that country and replayed just hours later here. Therefore, the news is invariably fresh, almost always the most up-to-date news available about events in Japan. Ando started as a production assistant (i.e., gofer) in the newsroom and through persistence and the power of her personality, she worked her way up to the top. The newsman she edged out of the way was Kimura Taro, who still offers analysis as a commentator almost every day, all these years later.
At 6:20 am the scene shifts to the FCI studio in New York, where Kuge Kaoriko is the anchor. She is a highly intelligent, gifted broadcaster who presents the sports news, the daily yen/dollar quotes and then at 6:30 am, the American Broadcast News. This continues for 6~7 minutes and is based on the previous evening’s ABC network broadcast. Kuge also interviews newsworthy Japanese who pass through New York. From 6:38~7:00 am there are human interest stories, starting with a feature story and ending with one or two brief segments.
FCI may have cut back its programming but its News Express is still worth watching.
FCI News Express, weekday mornings 6:00 am to 7:00 am on KSCI, Channel 18