For those who are able to receive KIKU-TV, here's the January 2004 schedule (all times Hawaii Standard Time):

Classic Abarenbo Shogun, starts Sunday, January 11 at 9:00 PM.
Mystery Theater, starts Wednesday, January 14 at 8:00 PM.
Life with Dad (Otousan), starts Thursday, January 15 at 8:00 PM.
Women of the Onsen 1, continues from Saturday, January 17, at 8:00 PM.
Shopping Hero, starts Saturday, January 17, at 9:00 PM.
Song of the Canefields, Friday, January 2 at 7:00-10:00 PM
Princess Hiro Part 1, Saturday, January 3 at 7:00-10:00 PM
Abarenbo Shogun Finale, Sunday, January 4 at 8:00-10:00 PM
Hagure Keiji XV Special, Monday, January 5 at 7:00-9:00 PM
Time Limit, Tuesday, January 6 at 7:00-9:00 PM
Separate Ways, Wednesday, January 7 at 7:00-9:00 PM
Japan's Best Seafood, Thursday, January 8 at 7:00-9:00 PM
Sushi! Donburi! Ramen! 2004, Friday, January 9 at 7:00-8:30 PM
Princess Hiro Part 2, Saturday, January 10 at 7:30-10:00 PM

As for me, I'll be finishing off my MPEG-2 captures of WotO 1 (finally!!!), and will capture all of Shopping Hero in MPEG-2 format. I'll bypass Otousan seeing Musui did an excellent job capturing that the first time. I'll also be capturing Songs of the Canefields, Princess Hiro, Time Limit, Separate Ways, and the Sushi event (love Japanese food!!!). All, again, in MPEG-2 format.

FINALLY, we're able to get back to a normal schedule! December 2003 was NUTS!!!!!

--- groink

thanks for the tip. They had a lot of great specials this year!

groink
Go for it!

http://starbulletin.com/2004/01/29/business/engle.html

What do you make of it?

--- groink

Hrm lets hope KIKU knows what they're doing. At least JN Productions will still be providing subtitles.

Also read about the DVD releases which is good and bad, good that we can finally get doramas on DVD with english subs but bad that they're only have plans to go through a Shogakukan owned publishing house. This will probalby mean only selective doramas will get the DVD treatment.

On the other hand anime started out that way too and now has many companies releasing eng subbed animes in the US so maybe doramas will go that route too.

I think this summarizes it

"The changeover "should be seamless to the viewers"

groink wrote:

http://starbulletin.com/2004/01/29/business/engle.html What do you make of it? --- groink

I feel that a lot of media companies are downsizing and it's all to cut costs.

As for whether JN Productions will release dorama DVD's is a definite question mark.

When I spoke to Matt Greenfield of AD Films back in October of 2002, he said that AD Films have been approached to release Japanese dramas in the US and he's seen a few but he feels the general public is not ready.

I spoke to another head of another company regarding the release of Japanese dramas in the US and he believes it's a perfect time.

Truthfully though...for example, let's say "Long Vacation" was released on DVD with two episodes at $29.99 with a chance that the opening theme may be changed (because obtaining the rights to the theme songs is another can of worms), would you buy it? Or are you perfectly content with your DVD-rip fan sub?

This is just a hypothetical question but If the license holder offered the Long Vacation series with the opening theme for only North American rights for 1 million dollars. Then of course, you add in extra costs for translator, DVD pressing, voice actors to DUB a drama (people complain enough when an anime or video game is in Japanese with subtitles and are not dubbed in English) and all the other extra costs involved in the creation of the DVD and the set, would there be enough people in North America that would buy LV volume 1 on DVD.

One thing that the popularity of anime has done is increase anime licensing costs and for major companies that have established a good business relationship with the company, there are special deals for options and licensing and package deals. But for Japanese dramas, it's going to be interesting to see how things develop within the next few years.

Also, may it be an anime company or a translation company, it all comes to dollars on what they can afford. If Japanese dramas do come into the US, would you be picky or would you mind if they are TV-Asahi or NTV dramas (for lower cost reasons).

kndy

Hopefully, this downsize will not affect the programing of Kiku.

Even though they say that the changeover "will be seemless to viewers", you never really know until it actually takes into effect.

I don't subscribe to NGN. Kiku is my "primary source" of Japanese programs. So I really hope that there is not much change.

Well see in the few days that lay before us...........................

ahochaude wrote:

Hopefully, this downsize will not affect the programing of Kiku. Even though they say that the changeover "will be seemless to viewers", you never really know until it actually takes into effect. I don't subscribe to NGN. Kiku is my "primary source" of Japanese programs. So I really hope that there is not much change. Well see in the few days that lay before us...........................

I'm only guessing this... I would think that both companies knew about this a looooooooong time ago. Also, because of their Spring line-up of programming (re-runs of Shopping Hero, Otousan, etc.) I really don't think things will change in the short-term. However, if KIKU-TV does run out of the programming they originally licensed form JN Production, who know what they'll bring in! Keep in mind that JN subtitled 100-percent of KIKU-TV's 7-10 nightly timeslot. They would have to either translate fresh material in-house (I wonder if they'd hire part-time work????? ) or find some other company that can provide Japanese translated programming. Some of the guys at the KIKU-TV message board is even hoping for K-dramas if you wanna believe it!!!!! Nothing against Kdramas, but they already have a TV station of their own (KBFD-TV). Hawaii doesn't need a second channel! However, I'm confident in their statement where they said they'd continue to bring in Japanese programming.

LOL! Maybe they should license with the same company that broadcasts in Singapore! I just don't want KIKU-TV to stop bringing in Making It Through and Women of the Onsen (the only two series I actually watch).

--- groink

I really must apologize for the length of this. Part of this I had written and stored for a few years now. I came across this topic completely by accident wihle searching for something drama related and happened to see the subject off the main page. Anyway, excuse if there are grammatical and spelling errors as I just quickly coredumped.

Personally and I think I will probably be in the minority on this but I feel that this split in the partnership was long overdue. You really need to step back in time to understand why and it is not something that can be said in just a few sentences. Some of this is personal opinion with some conjecture but other parts are based on fact from experiencing the real deal growing up on this stuff.

When Joanne Ninomiya (JN from this point forward) was KIKU's general manager in the earlier days, it was extremely good as far as Japanese language programming goes. KIKU pretty much broadcasted Japanese programming from the early morning until at least 1030pm every day. She had her finger on the pulse of what was going on locally and a feel for what sort of programming would best fit the demographics of her audience. Her gamble with bringing in the live action show Kikaida was the right thing at the right time because it ended up hooking kids like myself at the time. Is that not the sort of marketing tactic that Tsunku takes with Hello! Project? Hook them when they are young and come up with creative marketing schemes to provide a revenue stream over the long haul? That is what Kikaida brought to the plate (and then all the other follow on live action shows that she could manage to bring in at the time).

This spurred interest in Japanese popular culture beyond ethnic lines. KIKU and KZOO radio were able to ride this interest in Japanese culture via more television and radio programming. Being able to watch music programming of the popular singers of the time like Hit Parade was interesting. It went off so well that they were able to bring pop stars like Go Hiromi and Saijou Hideki over to meet their fans and perform. I clearly remember screaming teenaged girls of all ethnic backgrounds going completely nuts. I remember the parking lot area just below the top floor of Shirokiya being packed with parents and kids when Finger 5 did an autograph session. I remember the chaos at Honolulu International Airport in the garden area where it was wall-to-wall screaming teenagers waiting for Go Hiromi to arrive. It got to the level where they even brought the entire Star Tanjo production over (this is the Japanese talent show that brought singers like Yamaguchi Momoe onto the map). I was lucky enough to see the last one at the Waikiki Shell before the lack of turnout doomed it back to Japan. (KOHO radio did not act because their main audience was the issei and nissei and therefore not very popular with the younger Japanese music listening audience at the time). Imagine what could have been had this phenomenon continued and the popular culture had continued to ingrain itself in Hawaii throughout the 80's? Unfortunately, that never came to pass because all of this quickly vanished during the 80's. Ironically, that is when JN left KIKU (1981) to concentrate on her fledging production company.

Once she left to dedicate more time to JNP though, that is when the programming began to dovetail from nearly all Japanese programming to what eventually became less than 8 hours per day. At the same time, lot of us kids were growing up and some of that Kikaida influence was wearing off. Some of this dropoff is understandable because I know KIKU was looking to diversify because of diminishing viewership due to the older generation passing on. However, I feel that it is a two-way street and lack of programming can lead to a lower level of interest. At the same time, JN continued to maintain strong ties to KIKU and thus this very strong partnership. Because she did so much for such programming, I doubt if anyone would question her input and guidance. However, you also need a station general manager who has the ability to set direction on their own terms based on what they see. This is where I felt the partnership became more detrimental over time for the actual programming because it did not seem there was anyone at KIKU during this timeframe who was passionate about pursuing more hours in Japanese programming. JN has more on her plate with JNP given that they were concentrating not only on broadcasting but on diversifying into a production facility. Naturally you tend to lose touch with what is actually going on and that sort of thing is better left to someone who can pay more attention to those specific needs. I mean there were several years in the later 80's and early 90's when they would cut out at least an hour out of Kouhaku just to fit the program into an ever smaller time slot of Japanese programming.

Much of the focus of JNP as mentioned in the article was on other services including diversified programming from all of Asia. It is no wonder that KIKU morphed into its hodgepodge of multicultural programming which lacked any sort of cohesiveness and vision. I suppose this is why it eventually became a perfect match for AMG and their later purchase of the station. The article states AMG bought KIKU in 1989 and brought the international programming format to Hawaii. This is marketing and PR spiel because what they really mean is other Asian programming (such as Chinese; both Cantonese and Mandarin, Vietnamese, Filipino, etc) besides Japanese. You probably also remember the Japanese bubble economy. Greed drives more greed and during the later part of that, the rights to license Japanese programming also started to become prohibitively expensive (not helped any when the bottom fell out from their market). A friend worked at JNP during this time and off the cuff mentioned it was becoming infeasible to bring in some of the better programs. This I heard is still the case today and is yet another reason for the decrease in Japanese language programming. It is an expensive proposition if a station cannot recoup those costs via advertisement. In the meantime, the Korean broadcasting market was really saavy and they made their programming easily available and affordable. Ask plenty of sansei what they watch for asian programming and you will hear that many tune in to KBFD to watch the dramas, variety and music shows. This sizeable demographic was ceded away from over a decade of neglect. There is also the whole side issue of subtitling too. Fuji Broadcasting specifically went after their licensees in 2001 or 2002 which is why TV Japan and their sublicensees like NGN can no longer subtitle those shows. They have a terse statement about it on their english site which is completely utter bull because during the whole of the 1990s, they had quite a bit of english marketing dedicated to getting their programming into english speaking markets. http://www.fujitv.co.jp/en/faq/topmain.html I have much more I could write on in this area but it would really fill several pages and cause eyes to gloss over (if this is not already causing that to happen).

Now the centennial Okinawan immigration celebration in 2000 brought some minor interest back. That is when Dalton Tanonaka's promotion company and Kintetsu International brought Amuro Namie to perform her benefit show at the Waikiki Shell. Then a real big one was scored in getting Tube to perform at Aloha Stadium. This injected some needed money into a floundering tourism industry because Tube was able to bring over 13000 fans from Japan. The HVB (Hawaii Visitors Bureau) was happy because it pointed out this strong cross cultural interest. Now you would think that HVB, the production companies and local Japanese broadcasters would do everything in their power to use this as a stepping stone to work with their counterparts in Japan to try and create a revenue stream beneficial to both of their (stagnating) economies. There were rumours of other performers also possibly playing shows in Hawaii like up and comers of the time, the brilliant green. We are talking about full concerts and not the anime convention sort of tieups that are currently taking place with people like TM Revolution, Tamaki Nami, Koda Kumi, and Miyavi. Even Tofu Records (Sony Music Japan's import arm in the U.S.) main target is the anime audience. Quite a bit of Japanese performers spend their time vacationing or holding fan club related events in Hawaii (some big names during that 2000 time included Glay and Globe). Sadly, nothing happened and all this momentum and goodwill vanished as if it never happened.

What is kind of telling is when a longtime Kikaida fan Gaylord Cambra (RIP) needed to approach JN about reviving Kikaida and as she alluded to in the interview on the DVD, she was at first unsure about it until meeting with Gaylord. I am sure you can get the exact date that he first pursued this if you ask on the Generation Kikaida site. To me, such a revival should have happened far earlier (not the 1994 failure by NGN because it lacked any sort of marketing firepower AND NGN is a premium channel so your target market is that much smaller) and should have coincided around the same period as the Amuro Namie and Tube shows in 2000 as way to reinvigorate an interest in Japanese popular culture. You would think this would be a no brainer given how stubbornly the officials in Hawaii are adamant about pumping huge amounts of money into the tourism industry but without any sort of vision beyond just advertisements of the same old thing. For Hawaii people, look at how well the Kikaida revival has done since 2001. Look at the sort of drawing power it has especially when Ban Daisuke and Ikeda Shunsuke make personal appearances. It is still going strong. Unfortunately what is missing like from the first time was all the secondary interest in the music and other variety show programming tieups. Imagine now if you can get part of the population again interested in the musical aspects and bring in some of these popular acts. Can you imagine the magnitude if Morning Musume or w-inds were actually on some of the same kids radar who are into Kikaida? Not only that but how it opens up that entire generation back into what a few of us had experienced as youngsters. It extends well into the popular culture of Japan in terms of television programming, music, and all the associated merchandising. This can become big money but so far, it seems no one has a clue on how to monetize it into a workable stream. Part of it seems to be due to those who are in charge being somewhat out of touch with the popular culture aspects.

So I kind of take the former GM's statement about understanding the market with some skepticism because in my eyes, they are letting an opportunity pass them by with these new generation of kids who are still open to the idea of programs from other countries like Japan. If there was someone there who really had the pulse of what was going with Japanese popular culture in Japan, there would be a far greater effort by not only KIKU but anyone with any sphere of influence (like the HVB, JNP, and even the major tour firms like Kintetsu, Jalpack, JTB) to attempt to work out something to bring in programming that appeals to the younger crowd that would eventually re-open the door to bringing in more merchandising and acts into the U.S. I also know that the whole Kikaida thing in Hawaii is licensed solely to JNP but I really do not want to get further into that because I am sure that will invoke some potentially strong reactions from the Generation Kikaida folks.

So in all, I guess this is why I look at this split as good for KIKU only in the regards that whomever is in charge will no longer really have the JNP ties to worry about. The problem going forward is they really need a local staff staff who can quickly assess the current market and determine what sort of programming is relevant to todays audience in Hawaii. Are they really getting any sort of viewership here from their other programming (some of which is obviously coming from AMG)? Hawaii still has a high Japanese national (natives from Japan) population which possibly makes increased programming feasible. The other is can they market and create any sort interest in Japanese pop culture that would eventually end up benefiting them? It would seem to be a natural to bring more of the popular singing acts to perform here and now is a good time if any considering how much more open some of the larger labels in Japan have been testing the waters in this area. Not too many opportunities like this happen where it can turn into a win-win situation for many different players.

Personally, I am re-drafting up a proposal which attempts to go into far more detail than the above and also to make sure that everything is factual along with the specific details. In otherwords, not a simple task but something I would like to try to undertake as a way of contributing rather than wishfully thinking. It is also meant to be more constructive feedback to the management. About all I can offer is my personal ideas but it will really be up to KIKU and the management at AMG to seriously act upon. If anyone has any further thoughts (especially serious ones), I will leave some other form of contact later and try to setup something where the discussion can be kept specific and relevant to just the above.

Onigiri Wasshoi wrote:

I really must apologize for the length of this. Part of this I had written and stored for a few years now. I came across this topic completely by accident wihle searching for something drama related and happened to see the subject off the main page. Anyway, excuse if there are grammatical and spelling errors as I just quickly coredumped.

Wow!!!! Way to go!!!!!

--- groink

Onigiri Wasshoi:

Quote:

the rights to license Japanese programming also started to become prohibitively expensive (not helped any when the bottom fell out from their market). A friend worked at JNP during this time and off the cuff mentioned it was becoming infeasible to bring in some of the better programs. This I heard is still the case today and is yet another reason for the decrease in Japanese language programming. It is an expensive proposition if a station cannot recoup those costs via advertisement. In the meantime, the Korean broadcasting market was really saavy and they made their programming easily available and affordable. Ask plenty of sansei what they watch for asian programming and you will hear that many tune in to KBFD to watch the dramas, variety and music shows. This sizeable demographic was ceded away from over a decade of neglect.

I am a sansei who tunes in to KBFD nightly for their dramas. While I know many others who are avid viewers of Korean dramas. I know only a few who watch KIKU dramas regularly. Friends who know the owner(s) of KBFD told me that dramas shown in Hawaii are chosen according to their rating in Korea. KBFD does its best to air the most popular dramas.

In the recent past I'd turn to KIKU every now and then after 9:00 between KBFD dramas. I remember watching Beautiful Life, which I enjoyed. More often than not, however, I caught dramas which did not catch my interest, such as Hotel.

About a year ago, I took an active interest in Japanese dramas after viewing a friend's tape of last episodes of several dramas. Reading about Good Luck, I called JN Productions to ask if KIKU would be airing this drama. The spokesperson said they couldn't afford to air this drama because of its big name stars. Although I have enjoyed some of the dramas that have aired on KIKU in the past year, I don't think they compare with the dramas that were aired on KIKU years ago.

I really enjoyed reading your insightful account of the history of KIKU! I hope the management change and your constructive suggestions will improve the quality of KIKU dramas!

Onigiri Wasshoi:

Quote:

It is an expensive proposition if a station cannot recoup those costs via advertisement. In the meantime, the Korean broadcasting market was really saavy and they made their programming easily available and affordable.

How true! I totally agree with your insight!

When I first started to visit the KBFD site 4-5 years ago, I was surprised to see the very low advertising rates posted in the advertising section of the home page. The advertising rates are no longer posted on the new KBFD Home Page, but I'm sure they have gone up with KBFD's popularity. I've also noticed that commercial time has increased during and between dramas. I am no marketing expert, but I can see how KBFD has created a positive financial cycle. Its amazing growth in popularity with local viewers is a direct result of the quality dramas that KBFD selects and offers. This brings in more revenue from advertising, which in turn pays for these quality programs.

Hopefully, KIKU can learn from KBFD's successful marketing strategies!

Hi everyone,

I haven't watched drama from KIKU-TV for about 6 or so years now. Has the programming really decreased in terms of getting the popular dramas that air in Japan.

Geez...you guys mentioned kzoo...how is the station doing now...more JPOP or still the same few hours they had before? [the last time I listened was when Mike the Weekend guy and Sharon were the DJ's]

kndy

kndy-nt2099 wrote:

Hi everyone, I haven't watched drama from KIKU-TV for about 6 or so years now. Has the programming really decreased in terms of getting the popular dramas that air in Japan. Geez...you guys mentioned kzoo...how is the station doing now...more JPOP or still the same few hours they had before? [the last time I listened was when Mike the Weekend guy and Sharon were the DJ's] kndy

I don't have an AM radio! KZOO is still on the AM band.

--- groink

That was some interesting stuff Onigiri. It seems what happened in Hawaii effected Los Angeles also back in the 80's.

Kikkaida was one of the first shows I enjoyed watching as a kid on channel 52 I believe.

There was also Raideen, Ghetta Robo, Go Rangers, Lion Maru, Tori Ton, etc.

Even Ultra Man and Giant Robot were great.

This happened during the 70's and by the time the 80's came around...I was somewhat outgrowing this stuff anyhow but they all seem to have disappeared during the 80's period.

I am not even sure what broadcasting company brought all those shows to LA. Perhaps it was Kiku?

What do you make of this Groink?
It's only until tomorrow, that the change/downsize will take into effect.
I guess we'll just have to see what's gonna happen. Hopefully, it will be a positive thing like that dude Onigiri said.

After all, most of us perceive change in a negative light, most of the time.
Hopefully, this change will contradict what most of us anticipate the change to be.
Perhaps this may be the best move?

You poor things.

Come to SF and see what mudazukai we have to watch. A few hours on weekends!

We were on Maui recently and really enjoyed what you do have. We really enjoyed Soko Go Shiratai.
_________________

Itazura ichiban wrote:

We were on Maui recently and really enjoyed what you do have. We really enjoyed Soko Go Shiratai.

Soko ga Shiritai? They replay that stuff over and over again and I swear that a lot of it looks like it was set back in the 80's. At least, according to the hairstyles, clothing, etc.

And on KIKU news, the new programming is:

Sundays 8:00pm
starting on September 23- The Grand Family (Karei Naru Ichizoku)

Thursdays 9:00pm
starting on September 20 - Partners 3 (Aibou 3)
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Japanese drama trades (on hiatus)

Currently watching: Netflix stuff

Sorry to bump this up again, but the new dramas for KIKU are:

MONDAYS
9-10pm
~ Fukumaru Inn 2 / Asakusa Fukumaru Ryokan (Starting on April 14)

THURSDAYS
8-9pm
~ Partners 3 / Aibou 3
9-10pm
~ Partners 4 / Aibou 4 (Starting on April 17)
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