On May 15th, Fuji TV announced that they will live broadcast AKB48's '4th Senbatsu General Election' on June 6th. This will be the first time to live broadcast on a TV station.

This year's broadcast will the biggest in their election history with a total of 237 girls (152 girls last year) from AKB48 and its sister groups participating in the election. They're all competing for 64 open seats(40 seats last year).

Fuji TV set up the special program for the election titled 'AKB48 4th Senbatsu General Election Namahousou SP(tentative title)' from 7:00 pm on June 6th. They will broadcast a quick report of votes counted at Nippon Budokan, which is the election venue, and Odaiba Fuji TV studio.

At the studio in Odaiba, Fuji TV's announcer will serve as host, and the celebrities who are well-informed about AKB48's general elections, and AKB48's fans will appear as guests. (Guest list will update later.) They will look back on previous elections and anticipate this year's trend. On the border of the screen, they will display venue and prompt reports of the number of votes.

The cameras will cover the backstage of the election and air footage of the girls tackling this major event.

The program producer Hamano Takatoshi stated, "These national idol groups are a social phenomenon now. We will broadcast each of their serious expressions as they lay their emotions bare."

Source: Sanspo