[Bigtop]

Thanks for the input. I did almost forget that NTV do have a 20-minute news break at the bottom of the four-o-clock hour, which was a good time to get an up-to-date situation (at the time) of the record rainfall. And I do have to agree what Karen said that NTV wasn't disrespectful: good thing quick 'breaking news' bulletins were added throughout the show regarding not just the rainfall but also an earthquake that struck around 8:20 PM local time! (Nothing new but very convenient. I did also realize that the earthquake news bulletin was one that aired nationwide since the one most affected was Chiba, the main location of The Music Day, in addition to the 'static' rainfall updates that western Japan, provided by NTV/NNN's local affiliates, e.g. YTV in Osaka/Kansai, was seeing.)

I hope the people affected by the rains recover as soon as possible.

I'm right now in the middle of watching this, I'm taking a break since it was my sleeping time right now. Third consecutive NTV Music Day I'm watching, first one I watched in full was 2016. Was here for Ayaka (yay!), not necessarily for all the Nogizaka46 hype (Nogi's becoming more of a thing among AkiP's groups compared to AKB48 in recent months).

So how did the viewership ratings go for this year's Music Day? I heard this one was looking really good compared to last year.

EDIT: I found it. 9.0%/10.8%/14.9% for this year, compared to 8.0/9.8/14.2 from last year. Better than last year's, but still lower than pre-2016 levels. Is NTV feeling a little bit of pressure from alternative media sources that may have contributed to the Kouhaku decline last year?

Man, Saturday night was pretty crazy considering an earthquake (!) hit off the coast of Chiba in the middle of The Music Day (in addition to the continuing rainfall west of Tokyo).

Now I still have to wonder why Fuji TV was also broadcasting Music Fair at the same time The Music Day was airing...at least Fuji TV was aware of it, so they decided that the episode on that night would be a 'low-key' episode.