NPB banned Fuji TV from covering Japan Series as punishment

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The Yokohama DeNA BayStars pose for a team photo after winning the Japan Series on Nov. 3. (Takeshi Komiya)

Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) canceled press credentials to the SMBC Japan Series for a TV network that aired World Series games at night in a competing time slot, a sanction criticized by a media expert.

NPB announced on Nov. 11 that it had pulled credentials issued to Fuji Television Network Inc. for covering the Japan Series.

It cited that “the relationship of trust was seriously damaged” by the broadcaster’s decision to air Major League Baseball's World Series games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees in a recorded format.

The broadcasts were telecast during the same time slot that the Japan Series games were being broadcast live on a different channel.

Hiroshi Kanda, a professor of sports journalism at Edogawa University, said revoking press passes is essentially punishment for serious rules violations and should not be done without a clear explanation for the reason.

“It appears that the action was taken out of resentment over the (competing content) being broadcast, but even if Fuji TV broke industry customs, it is not a violation of explicitly stated rules," Kanda said. "What the NPB should be doing is to enhance the value of the Japan Series so that it can compete with MLB, rather than sanctioning (Fuji TV).”

Fuji TV was not issued credentials to cover all the games of the Japan Series, which were played from Oct. 26 to Nov. 2, as well as the “Samurai Japan” national baseball team’s training games, which lasted until Nov. 10.

NPB General Secretary Atsushi Ihara said, “The Japan Series is made possible by the cooperation of TV stations, sponsors and the 12 (NPB) baseball teams.”

He said Fuji TV’s decision “jeopardized this cooperative framework.”

The decision to bar Fuji TV from coverage was made by NPB itself, Ihara said.

At the executive committee meeting of the 12 professional baseball teams held on Nov. 11, it was confirmed that discussions will be held between the NPB and Fuji TV.

“We will start a dialogue for next year and beyond,” Ihara said. “This is not a sanction, nor a protest. We would like to reaffirm our understanding of cooperation.”

In general, TV stations have the right to organize their own broadcasting schedules.

Fuji TV broadcast the World Series games live. However, due to the time difference between Japan and the United States, the games were aired in the morning Japan time.

According to sources, Fuji TV broadcast a “digest” version at night as a service to viewers in response to comments such as, “I can’t watch it if it’s broadcast in the morning.”

The broadcaster’s corporate communications department declined to comment, citing that it “has not been contacted” about the contents of the NPB executive committee meeting.

On the other hand, a person involved in Japanese professional baseball said, “Why did (Fuji TV) air the digest of the World Series games in that time slot? There must have been a better way to handle it.”

Fuji TV’s live broadcasts of the World Series began in the morning in Japan on weekdays and the weekend.

Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) also broadcast the games live on its BS channel.

Despite being aired by a national broadcaster, Fuji TV received high viewer ratings.

According to Video Research Ltd., the average household viewership rates for Game 1, which was aired live on the morning of Oct. 26, was 13.1 percent in the Kanto region.

The ratings for the digest version broadcast in the evening was 8.1 percent in the same region.

In comparison, Game 1 of the Japan Series broadcast live on the same night by Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc. (TBS) averaged a 10.5 percent viewership rate.

The following day, Game 2 of the World Series aired on Fuji TV marked a high rating of 14.0 percent.

Game 5 on Oct. 31, which the Dodgers won to clinch the World Series, recorded an 8.7 percent. Compared to the usual ratings for the same time slot, the figure was three to four times higher.

According to Video Research, an estimated 56,562,000 people nationwide watched any of the five games broadcast live on Fuji TV and NHK-BS in real time.

The broadcasting rights for the Japan Series are owned and managed by the NPB, which oversees the 12 teams in the Central and Pacific leagues.

The 12 teams have the right to recommend a broadcaster to telecast the championship series.

By the end of July each year, the 12 teams recommend a TV station to the NPB.

Ultimately, the TV station recommended by the teams that have made it to the Japan Series obtains the broadcasting rights.

This year, six of the 12 teams recommended Fuji TV and its affiliated stations to broadcast the Japan Series.

Until now, the broadcasting industry has refrained from airing baseball-related programs on different channels during the same time slot when the Japan Series is on the air, “out of consideration” for the NPB.

On the other hand, the terrestrial broadcasting rights for the World Series have been rotated between NHK and commercial broadcasters that have the right to broadcast MLB news.

The rule is that the stations in charge must broadcast the World Series games, no matter which team qualifies.

This year, the station in charge was Fuji TV, and one of the teams advancing to the World Series was the Dodgers. Featuring two Japanese superstars, Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, high ratings were expected.

And coincidentally, the dates of the Japan Series and the World Series overlapped this year, which also led to the current dispute.

If the MLB’s National League Championship Series was decided within five games, the World Series schedule would have been moved up.

However, the series between the Dodgers and the New York Mets went to a Game 6, causing the dates of the Japan Series and the World Series to overlap.

All this year’s Japan Series games were played in prime time, starting at around 6 p.m.

Fuji TV broadcast the World Series games live in the morning, and in the same prime time slot in the evening, it aired a program called “World Series Digest,” except during Game 3 of the Japan Series, which Fuji TV itself broadcast live on Oct. 29.

According to sources, the NPB tried to move Fuji TV’s scheduled Oct. 29 broadcast of Game 3 to TBS. However, such a last-minute change could not be made and Fuji TV ended up telecasting the game.

At a news conference held on Oct. 25, Fuji TV President Koichi Minato said, “I am happy that we are able to broadcast the historic battle of the century. Personally, I hope the Dodgers win four games to three.”

Minato then said, “At the same time, there is also the Japan Series. If you like baseball, I want you to watch both.”

Despite making a plug for the NPB, the broadcaster was ultimately banned from covering the NPB games.

Regarding the World Series digest broadcasts, an official of Fuji TV said that “there was a certain need for it.”

But other broadcasters voiced their opinion that Fuji TV acted “unscrupulously for the sake of viewer ratings.”

An official of TBS, which broadcast four of the six Japan Series games, said  Fuji TV’s decision to broadcast the digest of World Series games in prime time was “in poor taste.”

The official also said the decision “did not target the right audience” because baseball enthusiasts would watch the World Series live on the side and then watch the Japan Series live at night.

“And with the added bonus that NPB is furious,” the official said candidly. “I didn’t really understand what (Fuji TV) was trying to do.”

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