K-pop audition programs to air on major TV channels

A flurry of K-pop audition shows are set to air on major television channels next month, following the boom in trot audition shows last year. Networks like MBC, SBS, and Mnet are gearing up to release K-pop audition shows.

SBS teamed up with the entertainment agency and label, JYP Entertainment and P Nation, respectively, to produce “LOUD,” set to air on June 5.

JYP’s head, Park Jin-young, and P Nation’s head, PSY, will be the hosts of the show and find members for a new boy group under each agency.

The show is being produced by the same team that was behind SBS’s hit audition series, “K-pop Star,” which ran for six seasons starting in 2011.

“This show will be have the ‘killer content’ of the year and will take Saturday’s primetime slot,” the network

said.

MBC has joined hands with star producer, Han Dong-chul, who has a track record of hit K-pop survival series, such as, “Show Me the Money” and “Produce 101,” to oversee a new audition show.

Producer Han founded his own production studio in February, after ending his contract with YG Entertainment late last year. As one of his first projects in production, he inked a deal with MBC to form a global K-pop group.

The show, scheduled to release in November, intends to find “gems” in various entertainment agencies, even the small ones.

“Our goal is to form a group that fits the needs of global fans and makes it into Billboard’s charts,” the producer said.

CJ ENM’s Mnet is also planning to release another K-pop survival show, despite its fall from grace following a vote-rigging scandal involving its previous “Produce” series. The producers of the hit series admitted to manipulating viewers’ voting results and hand-picking some of the finalists.

The network’s new survival show, “Girls Planet 999,” will invite participants from Korea, China, and Japan to compete to become a member of a new girl group. Although the format sounds no different than its previous shows, the network emphasized that the voting process will be different this time around, in order to guarantee transparency and to exclude the production staff from getting involved in the voting.