(also known as CDTV) is a Japanese late-night music television program, broadcast on TBS since 1993. The program is shown weekly, and features a Japanese music video hit chart countdown, live performances from musicians and music information. It is presented by three CGI-animated hosts.

History

The show was created after a gap the broadcast of the long-run TBS countdown show The Best Ten (1978–1989). A top 100 music countdown show called (presented by Kuniko Tamada and

Masayuki Watanabe Masayuki (written: , ,, , , , , , , , , , , , , , or ) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese animator and director *, Japanese actor *, Japanese baseball player and manager *, Japanese politician *, ...

) begun airing on TBS networks from October 1992, however received low ratings in its targeted youth market (due to its early airing time, 8pm, and the at average 10pm returning home time of the target audience). The show finished airing in March 1993. The show was re-branded, becoming ''Count Down TV'' and airing from April 1993 onwards. Some of the rebranding changes were later broadcast times, CGI hosts and imagery, along with only airing the top 40 chart rank-ins. The format has remained basically the same over the years. Some changes have been extending the broadcast from 30 minutes to 40 (and extending the charts from top 40 to top 50) and introducing album/

ringtone A ringtone, ring tone or ring is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call. Originally referring to and made by the electromechanical striking of bells, the term now refers to any sound on any device alerting of a new incoming ...

chart countdowns. Since April 2020, Count Down TV was split into 2 different programs: CDTV! Saturday (Sundays 12:58am) and CDTV! LIVE LIVE (Mondays 9pm; Mondays 10pm from March 30, 2020 - March 29, 2021). The same CGI hosts presented the Saturday edition while TBS announcer Ai Eto presented the Monday edition. The Saturday edition ended on March 21, 2021. The ranking segment which has been part of the Saturday (original) edition was then carried over to the Monday edition.

Main Segments

The show is split up into several chart segments, based around weekly or monthly sales. Weekly singles rankings are split into last week's top 10, #30-#21, #20-#11, #10-#4, and sequential sections for singles ranking #3, #2 and #1. The top 10 albums' chart is briefly broadcast (from April 2009, non-domestic albums also feature), along with the top 10/20 ringtones. Other than these charts, between 1-3 musical guests perform in weekly segments (generally songs popular on the charts at the time), along with an older clip from the 'CDTV library' and fortune telling for the week. The monthly segments include (generally shown in the first week), CDTV History/Album Library (previous #1 singles/albums from that month in history), the top 10 songs performed at

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

for that month, the top albums/DVDs. The ''CDTV Award'' for the top single/album/ringtone/DVD that month is also announced. Other segments include information segments for hyped music videos/film tie-up songs/

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theme songs (potentially with sample clips from these music videos), and user submission polls for such questions as 'Which artist do you want as a lover?', 'What song do you want for your Wedding?', etc.

CDTV Top 100

''Count Down TV'' ranks its music video countdown on the ''CDTV Top 100'' chart. The chart is tallied by a combination of

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

's singles chart and cable broadcast requests. Due to this, songs not officially released as singles (such as album tracks, B-sides, digital download singles, or the single before its official release) occasionally rank in, if the song has a music video that has been submitted to the station. As of December 2009, only these 13 tracks have achieved this: *

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feat.

Beni is a Japanese R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni (stylized as BENI). She was initially best known fo ...

- (4 weeks early rank-in at #90) * Dreams Come True - (album "Love Unlimited" album track) *

Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

Kumi Koda , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs. After debuting with the single "Take Back" in December 2000, Koda gained fame in March 2003 when the songs from her seventh single, "Real Emotion ...

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Won't Be Long "Won't Be Long" (stylized all in capitals as ''WON'T BE LONG'') is a collaboration single by Japanese group Exile and singer-songwriter Koda Kumi. It debuted on No. 2 on Oricon and stayed there for the weekly ranking, bringing its monthly rank ...

" (1 week early rank-in at #94) *

Glay Glay (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese rock band, formed in Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan, in 1988. Glay primarily composes songs in the rock and pop genres, but they have also arranged songs using elements from a wide variety of genres, includ ...

- (2 weeks early rank-in at #97) *

Greeeen Greeeen (stylized as GReeeeN) is a Japanese vocal group from Kōriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, comprising the all-male four members: HIDE, navi, 92 (read as "kuni"), and SOH. They made their debut with Universal Music in 2007. Their logo image i ...

- (2 weeks early rank-in at #76) *

Kiyoshi Hikawa is a Japanese enka singer who was born on September 6, 1977 in Minami-ku, Fukuoka, Japan.Hikawa Kiyoshi: Pro ...

- (1 week early rank-in at #99) *Kiyoshi Hikawa - (1 week early rank-in at #92) *

Hi-Standard Hi-Standard (stylized as Hi-STANDARD) is a Japanese punk rock band formed in 1991 by bassist and lead vocalist Akihiro Nanba, guitarist and vocalist Ken Yokoyama, and drummer Akira Tsuneoka. The release ''Making the Road'' sparked sold-out Japan ...

- "

Love Is a Battlefield "Love Is a Battlefield" is a song by American singer Pat Benatar, recorded and released on September 12, 1983, as a single from Benatar's live album '' Live from Earth'' (1983), though the song itself was a studio recording. It was written by Ho ...

" (considered an album by

, but a single by CDTV) *

Sharam Q was a Japanese rock band composed of lead singer , on guitar, on drums and on keyboards. Biography They debuted with in 1992. They were not an instant hit initially, but their fourth single broke the top 50 of the Oricon charts. Eve ...

- (single "Īwake"'s B-side) * George Tokoro - (considered an album by

, but a single by CDTV) *

Hikaru Utada , who is also known by the mononym Utada, is a Japanese-American pop singer, songwriter and producer. By 2010, Utada had become one of the most influential, and best-selling, musical artists in Japan. Born in the United States to Japanese parent ...

- "

First Love First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

" (1 week early rank-in at #99) *Hikaru Utada - " Prisoner of Love" (1 week early rank-in at #84) *

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- "Laugh Away" (digital single) As the charts are formulated from only Japanese domestic artists, it is rare for an overseas artist to rank on the charts (usually this is done when a collaboration single with a Japanese artist is released). The non-Japanese artists to rank on the CDTV charts (non-domestically) are: *

Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is an English model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her career at the age of 15, and established herself amongst the most recognisable and in-demand models of the past four decades. Cam ...

("La La La Love Song" w/

Toshinobu Kubota is a Japanese singer, songwriter, musician, music producer, and radio personality. He has produced six million-seller records and thirty-three Top 40 singles during his career. Kubota is currently part of Sony Music Japan. In addition, he has co ...

) *

Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

( w/

Yuna Ito is an American-born former singer and actress who was active in Japan. She was born in Los Angeles and was raised in Hawaii. Ito made her musical debut in Japan with the single, "Endless Story", which was used as one of the theme songs for the ...

) *

Melissa Manchester Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been carried by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage. Early l ...

("Stand in the Light" w/

Tatsuro Yamashita , occasionally credited as Tatsu Yamashita or Tats Yamashita, is a Japanese singer-songwriter and record producer, who is known for pioneering the style of Japanese Soft rock, adult-oriented rock/soft rock music. His most well-known song is "C ...

) *

Park Yong-ha Park Yong-ha (Korean: 박용하, August 12, 1977 – June 30, 2010) was a South Korean actor and singer. Career At seventeen, Park was noted for his acting and musical skills, as well as his good looks which earned him popularity with fans. A ...

(originally considered an overseas artist on his first single, "Kajimaseyo" (カジマセヨ) hich did not chart *

Maxi Priest Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one ...

("Love Somebody" w/

Yūji Oda is a Japanese actor and singer. He is one of Japan's 11 most popular male entertainers, according to an NHK survey taken in 2004.Mark D. West ''Secrets, Sex, and Spectacle: The Rules of Scandal in Japan'' 2008 - Page 179 "Fukunaga, the boy band ...

) *

Richie Sambora Richard Stephen Sambora (born July 11, 1959) is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Bon Jovi from 1983 to 2013. He and lead singer Jon Bon Jovi formed the main songwri ...

("Forever" w/

Takashi Sorimachi is a Japanese actor and singer. He is mostly famous for having portrayed Eikichi Onizuka in the 1998 live-action drama adaptation of the popular manga series ''Great Teacher Onizuka'', and the assassin O in Hong Kong action film '' Fulltime Kil ...

) * Ryu Si-won *

Brian Setzer Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and returned to the music scene in the early 1990s with ...

("Back Streets of Tokyo" w/

Tomoyasu Hotei , also known simply as Hotei ( ), is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer and actor. With a career spanning more than 35 years, Hotei claims record sales of over 40 million copies and has collaborated with acclaimed a ...

) *

Roger Taylor Roger Taylor may refer to: *Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) (born 1949), drummer for Queen *Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer) (born 1960), drummer for Duran Duran *Roger Taylor (author), author of epic fantasy Hawklan series *Roger Taylor (college pr ...

("Foreign Sand" w/

Yoshiki Yoshiki is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yoshiki can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義樹, "justice, tree" *義基, "justice, foundation" *義機, "justice, opportu ...

) *

Twelve Girls Band 12 Girls Band (, sometimes abbreviated to 女樂 or 女乐) are an all female Chinese musical group that initially consisted of twelve members before the addition of a thirteenth. Twelve Girls Band use traditional Chinese instruments to play both ...

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Eastern Han Chinese

''lo-lɑn'' <

" (楼蘭) w/

Sachiko Kobayashi , born in Niigata, Japan, is a female Japanese enka singer and occasional voice actress and voice provider of VOCALOID 4 Sachiko developed by YAMAHA co. She previously worked alongside the Pokémon Company, under the alias " Garura Kobayashi". ...

) * Caron Wheeler ("Just the Two of Us" w/ Toshinobu Kubota) *

Faye Wong Faye Wong ( zh, 王菲; born Xia Lin on 8 August 1969) is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter. Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong. Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong in 1987 and her debut album '' Shirley Wong'' ( ...

(" Eyes on Me", " Separate Ways") ''Count Down TV'' also ranks albums and

downloads, but uses the raw data from

and

Recochoku is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other bus ...

, respectively.

Annual Song Rank No.1

* These songs also won the Grand Prix of

Japan Record Award is a major music awards show, held annually in Japan that recognizes outstanding achievements in the Japan Composer's Association. Until 2005, the show aired on New Year's Eve, but has since aired every December 30 on TBS Japan at 6:30 P.M JST a ...

. ** AKB48 keeps the record for the most No.1 of the year (7 times). *** The bold font indicates these songs are also the No.1 in Hot 100 of the year of Billboard Japan.

Specials

In addition to the main episodes, ''Count Down TV'' has aired various specials during its run including the year-end special

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Premier Live.

Presenters

The presenters of the show are computer-rendered animated characters. There are always three presenters: two (, voiced by

Hiromi Ishikawa is a Japanese actress and voice actress from Tokyo. She is represented by two talent agencies: 81 Produce and Caramel Box, and was formerly represented as a stage actor by Theatre Echo. Filmography Television animation *''Bonobono'' (Nagarebos ...

and , voiced by

Masami Kikuchi is a Voice acting in Japan, Japanese voice actor and narrator. He was affiliated with Troubador Music Office until March 2010. He then worked as freelance until April 2011, when he was employed by Kenyu Office. Filmography Television animation ...

) have been constant, while the third changed over time. The third is generally a famous program announcer on other TBS television shows. The six third animated announcers are: * (voiced by

Yumi Takada is a former Japanese voice actress employed by 81 Produce. Notable voice roles *Chitose Fujinomiya in Goldfish Warning! *Alice Knox in Power Dolls *Ayeka Masaki Jurai in Tenchi Muyo! *Ayeka Takada (OVA)/Romio (TV), Ghost Girl (TV; episode 8) ...

) * (voiced by Yumi Takada) * (voiced by Mika Horii) * (voiced by Ikumi Kimura) * (voiced by Chisato Kaiho) * (voiced by

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)

Theme Songs

Since the show's inception in June 1993, two popular music songs have been used as the show's opening and ending theme songs, changing monthly. For a complete list of these songs, see the list on the Japanese Wikipedia.

CDTV in popular culture

*The

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...

popular

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

Gin Tama is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hideaki Sorachi. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from December 2003 to September 2018, later in ''Jump Giga'' from December 2 ...

" episode's 2009 "Start the Countdown" featured a ''CD Gin Tama'' segment, in which all of the greatest quotes from the show were listed. A ''guest live'' was even included, in the form of Hitomi Takahashi (whose song " Wo Ai Ni" was the ending theme song at the time). A Gin Tama-styled animated Takahashi even gave a brief comment before her performance. The ''CD Gin Tama'' segment was repeated again in the episode "Screw Popularity Polls." *The

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

variety show "

Mecha-Mecha Iketeru! was a popular Japanese variety show, shown on Fuji TV. The first episode aired on 16 October 1996 and the last episode aired on 31 March 2018. The hosts of the show were the owarai duo Ninety-Nine ( Takashi Okamura and Hiroyuki Yabe). The sho ...

" features a segment called ''ICDTV'' (Iketeru Count Down TV), in which two songs are picked by members, and the one voted on most is chosen to be parodied. *The segment of the Fuji TV variety show featured a countdown of their most popular moments on the show called ''CDDD'' (Count Down Dame Dame).

References

External links

TBS 'CDTV' Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Count Down Tv Japanese music chart television shows 1993 Japanese television series debuts TBS Television (Japan) original programming