NEWS (acronym for "North East West South") is a Japanese boy band consisting of Keiichiro Koyama, Takahisa Masuda and Shigeaki Kato. Formed in 2003 by Johnny Kitagawa as a nine-member group under the label Johnny's Entertainment, NEWS released a promotional single , which was used for the World Cup of Volleyball Championships. In 2004, Takahiro Moriuchi (present-day Taka of One Ok Rock) left the group and the remaining eight members released their debut single, , which debuted atop the Oricon charts. In 2006, the group released their fifth consecutive number-one single, , as a six-member group due to the controversy surrounding then-members Hiroki Uchi and Hironori Kusano. After a brief hiatus, they released their seventh number-one single, . In 2008, they performed at the Tokyo Dome for the first time, and released their tenth single, "Happy Birthday", which made NEWS the second Japanese group after label-mates KinKi Kids to have ten consecutive number-one singles since their debut. NEWS became a quartet following the departures of Ryo Nishikido and Tomohisa Yamashita from the group in 2011. NEWS became a trio following the departure of Yuya Tegoshi in 2020. History 2003–2006: Debut and departure of members Formed in September 2003, NEWS released a promotional single, , which was used as the theme song for the World Cup of Volleyball Championships. Before holding their first concert, , Takahiro Moriuchi left the group. NEWS later released their debut single, "Kibō: Yell", which topped the Oricon chart. Their next two singles, (2004) and (2005), both debuted atop the charts, as did NEWS' first album, Touch, which sold 164,016 copies in its first week. In July 2005, Uchi Hiroki was caught for underage drinking and suspended indefinitely from both NEWS and Kanjani8, another group he was a part of. Despite having lost a member, NEWS released their fourth single, , which like its predecessors debuted at number one. In January 2006, NEWS was reduced to six members when Hironori Kusano was suspended indefinitely for the same charge as Uchi. NEWS released their fifth single, (March 2006), which was their fifth consecutive number-one single. On May 1, 2006, after NEWS finished their "NEWS Spring Tour", the group went on hiatus. 2007–2010: NEWS' six-member years On December 30, 2006, it was announced that NEWS would make their return at Johnny's Concert Countdown 2006-2007 as a six-member group, since Hiroki Uchi and Hironori Kusano had been demoted to trainees.