On the 2nd, NHK's announcer Makoto Hoshi appeared live on "News Watch 9" (9:00 a.m. Monday through Friday), where she was the anchor for Monday through Thursday. She announced that she will be in charge of ``Close Up Gendai'' (Monday to Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.) as the successor to Maho Kuwako (39), who has graduated from the program and is on maternity leave.