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The story
On the 19th, TBS announced that if Game 2 of the “SMBC Japan Series 2026,” scheduled to air on the 25th, runs past three hours, it will delay the start time of the Sunday Theater drama VIVANT. The matchup is the championship decider between DeNA and SoftBank, with the series having opened on the 24th at Yokohama Stadium and PayPay Dome. On 5ch, discussion centered on the existence of a “mandatory rule” requiring one of the key networks or NHK to carry the Japan Series broadcast live through to the end, the fact that Japan Series ratings in recent years have stayed in the single digits, and comparisons between those ratings and VIVANT’s.
“Baseball or Bepan?” [Bepan is the secret unit from VIVANT] Japan Series Game 2 — if the game runs past three hours, “VIVANT”‘s start time will be pushed back
On the 19th, TBS updated the programming schedule on its own website, confirming it will air a live broadcast of Game 2 of the pro baseball “SMBC Japan Series 2026” (at Yokohama Stadium) on the 25th.
The championship series between the Yokohama DeNA BayStars and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks runs from the 24th at Yokohama Stadium and Mizuho PayPay Dome.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
Kids couldn't care less about VIVANT
Baseball ratings are like 8% at best, right?
Being forced to air this is basically a punishment game
Re: #11
Broadcasting the baseball Japan Series isn't about broadcast rights or anything like that —
it's mandatory.
Rules on broadcasting the pro baseball Japan Series:
1. One of the key networks + NHK absolutely must broadcast it
2. The game absolutely must be broadcast start to finish
No matter how low the ratings, no matter how much a station doesn't want to air it, if they're assigned, they have to broadcast.
Not many people know this.
From the perspective of TV industry people, pro baseball is treated like a cursed object because of its low ratings
In yesterday's preview for Sazae-san [a long-running Sunday-evening anime], it said "next episode" instead of "next week's episode,"
and people were saying they must've changed the wording in anticipation of the Japan Series broadcast —
turns out Fuji TV didn't get the broadcast rights after all.
Re: #42
It's this time of year and it's the weekend, so they should just run it as a day game like in the old days.
Since it's usually a night game, day games used to feel special too
Games 1 and 2 of the Japan Series have been single digits for years now, haven't they
Hirosue was so hot in that
Being a shareholder or whatever has nothing to do with it lol
It's a rule — whichever station gets assigned is forced to broadcast the game
The relationship between Japanese TV networks and baseball
is just like North Korea 🤮
Japanese people's intelligence really is dropping
Go remember how insanely low-IQ Showa-era [1926–1989] TV shows were, grandpa lol
TV networks really are inflexible lol
Putting the Japan Series on a sub-channel is banned by the rules
Theory: zero people are watching pro baseball because they genuinely think it's interesting
Honestly, this theory would get way more support
Only an idiot could sit through watching that stuff
it's apparently a hollow, mediocre flop
Might as well just air baseball
Every single episode of VIVANT beat last year's Japan Series ratings
We only just watched the underdog Yokohama team and the champion Hawks not long ago
If this were dragging to game 7 it'd be one thing, but for game 2 it's gonna be tough no matter who wins first
TBS broadcast that game 2 too, and it bombed
The Japan Series barely scrapes into double digits for game 1 and the final game
Games 2 and 3 especially have terrible ratings
Game 2, Sunday Oct 27
SoftBank vs. DeNA 6-3, TBS
17:45 4.0
18:03 6.9
Maybe it's because I'm a Pacific League fan (and hate 'em), but I've got zero interest in a Hawks game lol — though I am rooting hard for the BayStars
The old folks are sleepy by nighttime anyway
But in Kanto it's weak no matter who's in it — even with the Giants it's not much different from Yakult or DeNA
Regional ratings are low-value to sponsors
In terms of actual viewer numbers, 10% in northern Kyushu comes out to less than 1% of the Kanto rating
So even with high ratings regionally, there's no real payoff for the key networks
What matters is the Kanto rating
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#1 738h 38m 54s — Ohtani-related coverage😨
#2 332h 52m 20s — LDP political funds scandal, factional issues
#3 271h 28m 30s — Noto Peninsula earthquake
#4 254h 09m 06s — US presidential election
#5 200h 32m 06s — Paris Olympics, Paralympics
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⚾2026 WBC, every single game 📺0%🤣
⚾2026 Dodgers TV ratings
Opening day: Fri March 27 📺0%🤣
Final game: Fri October 16 📺0%🤣 👈new!
⚾2026 Pro Baseball Climax Series
Final game: Oct 17, Hanshin × DeNA 📺0%🤣 👈new!
※Not even aired on TV Kanagawa😭
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[Dodgers] At Dodger Stadium, where playoff ticket prices have crashed, long lines form for free beer
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/e15dd3c048f769290fbfcba8cbfb9c006f651d1d
TVK, TV Kanagawa
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
There’s a long-standing arrangement for broadcasting the pro baseball Japan Series: one of the commercial key networks or NHK must always carry the game live, from start to finish. Because the assigned station has to see the game through to the end regardless of ratings, broadcasts have continued even as ratings have stayed in the single digits in recent years. Alongside explanations of this system, posters in the thread pointed out that VIVANT’s per-episode ratings have topped those of past Japan Series broadcasts, and noted the broadcasters’ own circumstances — that ratings carry different value in Kanto versus regional areas — revealing structural factors on the industry side that can’t be captured by a simple popularity comparison.
※This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Entertainment & Sports News+) thread “[TV] “Baseball or Bepan?” TBS to broadcast Japan Series Game 2 — if the game runs past three hours, Sunday Theater’s “VIVANT” start time will be pushed back.”
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