Skip to main content

2026 Hakone Ekiden Viewership Rating Hits Peak of 34.7% With Over 56 Million Tuning In

Video Research, Inc. announced on Jan. 5 that the average viewership rating for Nippon TV's broadcast of the 102nd Hakone Ekiden reached 28.5% for the first day of the race on Jan. 2, and 30.2% for the second day on Jan. 3, an average of 29.4% for the complete broadcast. Last year's race had ratings of 27.9% for Day One, 28.8% for Day Two, and an average of 28.4%.

The total viewership for the overall two-day race was 56,217,000, up nearly 800,000 from the 2025 broadcast. 42,679,000 tuned in for the Day One broadcast and 45,547,000 for Day Two. Average audience size was 17,324,000 for the complete broadcast, 16,521,000 for Day One, and 18,012,000 for Day Two.

This year's peak viewership rating on Jan. 2 of 33.7% was between 13:13 and 13:14 when Aoyama Gakuin University's Asahi Kuroda ran down leader Shinsaku Kudo of Waseda University near the end of the uphill Fifth Stage. The overall peak rating of 34.7% came at 9:10 a.m. on Jan. 3 when Aoi Ito of Komazawa University handed off in 6th place after running 56:50 for the downhill Sixth Stage, its 2nd-fastest time. Individual viewership ratings were 17.0% for Day One, tying last year, and 18.4% for Day Two, surpassing last year's 17.5%.



Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
That's good. I think next year it can be even better if someone steps up a bit closer to AGU till the end, I'm confident next year we could have an even more intense day 1 which would grow the interest for day 2 as well.
January 8, 2026 at 2:45 AM
Post a Comment

Most-Read This Week

Ngetich Breaks CR, Murayama and Sasaki Make U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10k

WR holder Agnes Ngetich  soloed a fast one at the 54th edition of the Mastercard New York Mini 10k, leading inside the first mile and pulling away the rest of the race to run a 30:07 CR for the win, the fastest time ever on U.S. soil albeit on a slightly net downhill course. On a warm day that saw over 10,000 women finish  Tsigie Gebreselama  was on her own most of the way too, a distant 2nd in 30:53 and 17 seconds up on past champ Hellen Obiri . Further back, 2026 World University Cross Country bronze medalist Amisa Murayama  and 2025 Morinomiyako Ekiden 3rd leg CR breaker Nazuki Sasaki  from 2025 National University Women's Ekiden runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University  made their U.S. debuts. Murayama was targeting the fastest-ever Japanese time at the Mini, 32:37, but struggled on the hills just before 5 km and late in the race, fading to finish 23rd in 34:08. Sasaki, recovering from a stress reaction in her upper back a few months ago, ran a conservative ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...
Post a Comment
Read more

Australian YouTuber Handed Lifetime Ban by Ageo City Half Marathon After Running 1:06 with Another Runner's Bib (updated)

After discussion with their race's chief JAAF referee, on Nov. 27 the organizers of the Ageo City Half Marathon handed down a lifetime ban from their event against 36-year-old Australian Matt Inglis Fox  for running the Nov. 15 race wearing the bib number of another JAAF-registered runner. The incident came to light after Fox posted on his personal Instagram account that he had run a PB of 1:06:33 and finished 203rd in Ageo with a 10 km split of 31:03, along with photos and video of himself in the race wearing a bib number beginning with 11. Fox did not appear in the results by name or in that time or place, the closest match being a 1:06:54 gross, 1:06:50 net finish time with a 31:21 10 km split for 18th place in the JAAF-registered division and 209th overall by bib number 1129, registered to a non-Japanese Tokyo-resident club runner. The club runner, Harrisson Uk , readily confirmed that he had given his bib to Fox, saying, "I gave my number to Matt. It wasn't me."...
82 comments
Read more