Fuji Television Network and its parent company, Fuji Media Holdings, say their executive managing advisor, Hieda Hisashi, will resign as the group faces criticism over the handling of a scandal involving a former TV host.



The media firms say that Hieda stepped down at Fuji Television on Thursday, and will also leave his role at Fuji Media Holdings.



Hieda, who is 87 years old, is a former president and chairman of Fuji Television.



He retained influence over the group's management after he became a managing advisor without right of representation in 2017.



Fuji Television came under scrutiny after trouble was reported last year between now-retired TV personality and a woman.



The company held a news conference in January, but it was very restricted and that only added fuel to the fire. Many corporate sponsors pulled their ads from the broadcaster.



As a result, the company's revenue is expected to plunge significantly.



The company said that its group-wide revenue for the year ending in March is expected to drop 3.2 percent from a year earlier to 548 billion yen, or about 3.64 billion dollars. Net profit is forecast to plunge 73.6 percent year-on-year to 9.8 billion yen, or roughly 65 million dollars.



Many firms did not put their commercials back on Fuji TV in February. The broadcaster's revenues for the month fell about 90 percent from a year earlier. Some analysts say the network may post an annual loss.



To recover trust and revenue, Fuji Media Holdings plans to cut the number of directors from 15 to 11 in June, while Fuji Television will reduce the number by half to 10.