MUSIC STATION

MUSIC STATION is a popular weekly music variety show that has been on the air since 1986. It airs Fridays at 8pm on TV Asahi and usually has 5-8 J-Pop artists and groups as guests on each show. The two hosts (タモリ Tamori and Hironaka Ayaka) chat with each artist for a couple minutes before they hit the stage and perform their latest song.
The show also runs specials from time to time, along with a yearly 3+ hour (now 4) live performance bonanza around Christmas time called MUSIC STATION SUPER LIVE.
The show also features Ward E. Sexton as the English announcer voice for introducing the guests and announcing the CD Single Hit Ranking (usually every week) and CD Album Hit Ranking (usually every month). Sexton is known for providing voice over to the Resident Evil (called Bio Hazard in Japan) video game series.
The program has also recently received its international television premiere on Animax's networks in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other regions from March 2007. It is also broadcast in the United States and Canada through the NHK-owned TV Japan, in Hong Kong via TVB J2, in Singapore through Hello Japan! and in the People's Republic of China through CCTV-15.