On March 26, TV Asahi's nightly news program, "News Station," ended after 18 1/2 years and 4,795 programs. Host Hiroshi Kume wrapped up the record run with a toast.
In truth, "News Station" is not leaving. It is simply being recycled with a new host. Because Kume was with the program from the beginning and was directly responsible for its success, his decision to leave last year made the show's producers decide to change the name to "Hodo Station," which means pretty much the same as "News Station."
"Hodo Station" makes its premiere April 5 at 9:54 p.m. The new host is Ichiro Furutachi, who, like Kume in 1985, has no previous experience in news. He started out as a sports announcer for Nippon TV, specializing in professional wrestling. His main strengths are his huge vocabulary and razor-sharp wit. Kume often said that he had to learn how to be a newscaster as he went along. Furutachi, who has a reputation for biting cynicism and even arrogant self-confidence, will certainly uphold the show's reputation for making news entertaining. The producers say that the new version will retain about 70 percent of "News Station" 's content, and that the aim is "honest news" and an inquiring attitude.