MIPCOM Spotlight: Nippon TV

Professionals hone their skills to reach the pinnacle of their physical vocations in the studio game show Witness the Fitness, a highlight from the Nippon TV catalog.

“The battles might make you giggle, but these professionals are putting their pride at stake,” says Shigeko “Cindy” Chino, the senior director of international business development at Nippon TV. “Witness the Fitness is a new game show that sheds light on the body parts of professionals through unique games.”

In the social experiment Impress Us, members of the general public take part in quizzes and challenges. The reality entertainment show YES MAN Discovers the World looks at what happens when a traveler heads to a new destination and is only allowed to say “yes” to whatever comes their way. “With the universal language of gestures and the power of positivity, what could possibly go wrong?” Chino says. “In YES MAN Discovers the World, the unplanned and unscripted three-day journey will produce unpredictable results.”

In the drama My Son, a child who was kidnapped nine years ago suddenly reappears. Nippon TV is offering the title as a scripted format. “This is a series that has great worldwide potential, and we have already been approached by many different companies that want to do a remake,” says Chino.

Also a scripted format, Woman: My Life for My Children comes from the same writer and producer as Mother. “The remake of Mother was a big hit in Turkey, and now Turkey’s MF Yapim has signed a contract to do a remake of this series as well,” says Chino.

Meanwhile, the drama Overprotected Kahoko deals with a young woman who was raised in a sheltered environment and finds emotional strength after meeting a man who had the opposite upbringing.

Chino adds, “Viewers can relate to these characters as the emotional ties intertwined within the family can be not only loving and caring but sometimes very daring.”