A television staple on New Year's Eve for decades that has seen steadily declining ratings, the "NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen (red-white singing battle)" has reached a crossroads. Producers had hoped that emphasizing diversity would reverse the trend.
According to Video Research Ltd., ratings for the 72nd edition of the live music show on Dec. 31 were 34.3% in the Kanto region for Part 2 of the program starting at 9 p.m. -- the lowest ever since the two-part format was adopted in 1989.
