“Cooking,” “Health,” “Gardening” —Media Strategies of NHK ETV’s Long-Running TV Series

Abstract

In 2017, NHK’s cooking program Kyou no ryouri (Today’s Menu) celebrated its 60th anniversary of broadcasting, and its health and gardening programs, Kyou no kenkou (For Your Healthy Life) and Shumi no engei (My Gardening), their 50th anniversary. The three programs dealing with daily-life themes have been loved by many people, with the names of the programs and their theme tunes having become household names.What these programs share in common is that while they cover topics that fit with the times, they also introduce forward-looking items in the genres that try to help viewers live productive lives. Furthermore, with the publication of guide books on the programs, they were among the first to utilize websites actively.Kyou no ryouri has introduced around 40,000 recipes. The program not only shows how to make basic dishes, but also keeps placing importance on useful recipes, such as quick dishes, to meet the needs of the times. The content has been expanded to a recipe searching site, short videos, social media, etc.The number of episodes of Kyou no kenkou aired during the five decades is over 10,000. The program has been offering information on health maintenance and disease prevention, with topics ranging from the prevention of infectious diseases to the recent lifestyle-related disease and how to prevent or live with cancer. The accumulation of the episodes led to the launch of NHK’s health website NHK kenko ch.Shumi no engei features bonsai, gardening, growing vegetable, etc. to reflect the trends of the times. The program makes suggestions on not only how to grow, but also how to display or photograph the plants, and promote online community building among the viewers.As we have entered the age of social networking and the media forms are becoming more diversified, the three programs on NHK ETV respect their own brands as long-established TV shows and secure the simple direction style, but at the same time they keep expanding their horizon, utilizing new media platforms.