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American Version of TBS's Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan Hits Season Highs in Hotly-Contested Sunday Evening Slot
2012.11.07
America's Funniest Home Videos (AFV) just scored its highest viewing figures for this season. The program originated with the funny home videos spot on Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan, a variety program that TBS broadcast in Japan from January 1986 to March 1992. AFV hit season highs on October 28 in the Sunday evening slot where sports programs traditionally compete for audiences. Viewing options were some of the strongest programs of the year: there was a National Football League game (the popular Sunday Night Football) on NBC; Fox offered Game 4 of Major League Baseball's World Series, in which the San Francisco Giants completed a sweep of the Detroit Tigers; and CBS provided coverage of the devastating Superstorm Sandy. Facing this formidable competition, AFV not only hung on to its steady overall rating in the 19:00 slot but also established a hefty 21% lead over CBS in the crucial 18-49 demographic. Week-on-week, AFV's audience figure was up 12% overall, and 23% in young adults. Along with its highest performance since May 2012, the program also scored its highest 12-17 teens number since March 2012. In autumn 2012, AFV entered its 23rd year on the air, becoming the longest-running program in the 60 year-plus history of the ABC entertainment line-up. On US terrestrial networks, which fiercely compete for ratings, it is rare enough for a program to survive for one decade, let alone two. AFV is recognized by an extremely high percentage of Americans, and as of the first week of November 2012, the program has over 1.46 million Facebook fans and counting. AFV was conceived in 1988, before the concept of TV format sales had gained global currency. TBS, in partnership with the US-based Bellon Entertainment, sold the funny home videos spot on Fun TV with Kato-chan and Ken-chan as a program format. The American version is produced using American cast and crew and with a few exceptions has not used the original Japanese content. Exported to over 100 countries so far, the program invites global audiences to submit their own home videos for nationwide viewing. Considered in the US as a forerunner to YouTube, AFV has become a huge favorite worldwide. |
