Nogizaka Kōjichū


is a Japanese variety television show, hosted by Bananaman and starring the girl group Nogizaka46. It was first aired on April 21, 2015. It is produced by TV Aichi and broadcast by member stations of the TV Tokyo Network.

Overview

Nogizaka Kōjichū is the successor to Nogizaka46's first regular terrestrial television program, Nogizaka tte, Doko?, which was also hosted by Bananaman. The title of the show was created by Yasushi Akimoto, the general producer of Nogizaka46.
On December 30, 2016, the show's first one-hour special episode was aired, featuring a joint year-end party with Keyakizaka46, whose television show Keyakitte, Kakenai? aired after this show's timeslot on TV Tokyo at the time. Subsequent one-hour special episodes have been aired on December 26, 2017, January 9, 2018, and January 8, 2019.
Starting with the May 17, 2021 episode, each episode has been made available after the terrestrial broadcast on the YouTube channel Nogizaka Haishinchū, which was newly established on May 6. Nikkan Sports reported that it is unusual for a terrestrial television program to be officially distributed for free on YouTube.
Due to their good relationship in the show, the Bananaman duo have become known as the of Nogizaka46. Yūki Himura has also taken the lead dancer position in Nogizaka46's live dance performances wearing replicas of the group's costumes as his female character Himuko, such as during the 2017 TV Tokyo Music Festival and the 2017 Midsummer National Tour at the Meiji Jingu Stadium. The preparation and performances were documented in the episodes aired on July 16 and 23, 2017.

Reception

Business Journal reported in 2021 that while TV Tokyo generally has the lowest viewership ratings among Kantō region broadcasters, its late Sunday night block, which airs three Sakamichi Series variety shows back-to-back, has "astonishingly high" household viewership ratings at around 1.5–2 percent comparable to larger stations such as Nippon TV. It also noted the high number of time shifted viewing, which indicated that viewers were actively watching the shows.