WORLD : Space Shot Story Bores Japanese

TOKYO — A television station’s costly bid to boost ratings by making one of its reporters the first Japanese to journey to outer space has been brought down to Earth by apathetic viewers.

Reporter Toyohiro Akiyama, 48, became the first journalist to report live from space aboard the Soviet TM-11 spacecraft for a trip to the space station Mir. His ticket for the eight-day trip cost Tokyo Broadcasting System $12 million. His reports from space were intended to be a centerpiece of the station’s 40th-anniversary celebrations.

TBS took 36% of the audience when millions of Japanese watched the blastoff from Soviet Central Asia on Sunday. But ratings dwindled to 17% by Wednesday for a report from the space station. TBS’ main evening news usually attracts about 14% of viewers, ranking it fourth of Tokyo’s five commercial networks.