'Kohaku Uta Gassen' drew 40.8% of viewers while Susan Boyle sang
The ‘‘Kohaku Uta Gassen’’ annual New Year’s Eve TV music extravaganza in Japan drew 40.8% of viewers during the section featuring Susan Boyle, the breakout star of ‘‘Britain’s Got Talent,’’ in the Kanto region centering on Tokyo, audience rating firm Video Research Ltd said Saturday.
Boyle, a special guest on the 60th Red and White Year-end Song Festival, sang ‘‘I Dreamed a Dream’’ during the 9 p.m.-11:45 p.m. second section of the two-part program aired by public broadcaster Japan Broadcasting Corp (NHK).
The section managed to secure over 40% of viewers for the second year in a row but the rate was down 1.3 percentage points from last year.
The first section, from 7:15 p.m., secured 37.1% of viewers, up 1.4 points for the third consecutive yearly gain.
In the Kansai region centering on Osaka, the first section drew 34.9%, down 0.5 point, and the second section 40.3%, down 1.3 points.
During the time frame, commercial networks offered a range of programs but were unable to match the traditional music show. TBS’s ‘‘Dynamite!!’’ martial arts matches drew 16.7% of viewers in the Kanto region, while NTV’s comedy show ‘‘Downtown no Gaki no Tsukaiya Arahende’’ secured 16.4%.
source:JAPANTODAY