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Different Approaches to Idol Survival Shows: Why “Peak Time” is Praised and “Boys Planet” is Criticized

JTBC’s “Peak Time” is a survival show created with the intention of giving a second chance to “unknown idol groups” with low recognition. 

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“Peak Time”, which is planned by production team of “Sing Again”, has been showing the various skills and stories of all participants since the first broadcast. Compared to previous survival programs, which used provocative editing for dramatic entertainment, “Peak Time” focuses on the skills and passion of the participants instead of sensational elements, providing a complete different approach.

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Especially in the first elimination episode broadcast on March 22, the sincere appearance of the production team cheering for the dreams of the participants touched many viewers. 

The production team even gifted the eliminated teams with new songs, choreography, and stage costumes, taking into account the difficulty of releasing new songs for unknown idol groups due to financial constraints. The sight of the eliminated teams enjoying the news of the new songs is heartwarming to viewers.

“Peak Time” is also well received for showing only the rankings of the passing teams and the teams that are likely to pass, and then revealing the rankings and the numbers of votes on the website in detail after the broadcast.

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The fact that “Peak Time” focuses on the skills and passion of the participants instead of stimulating factors, is a desirable example of survival and is evaluated as a “good audition program” by viewers. 

On the other hand, Mnet’s “Boys Planet” has been criticized for having significant differences in screen time among participants. 

According to a fan-compiled chart of practice time per trainee, some trainees have over 15 minutes of screen time while some have less than 3 minutes. In fact, a trainee who was unanimously accepted by the judges was edited out.

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Furthermore, “Boys Planet” has been criticized for its excessive use of evil editing, such as focusing on the conflict between trainees during the training process. 

In addition, splitting the competition into two episodes instead of showing the entire stage at once has also been controversial, as viewers’ votes mostly depend on the performances they see.

In the case of “Peak Time,” episodes 1 and 2 were aired consecutively in the first broadcast to prevent this problem.

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As these issues persist, some netizens speculate that “Boys Planet” has already chosen the trainees who will debut, and the excessive screen time is a result of this. This raises suspicions about the fairness of the program, especially considering the controversy surrounding vote manipulation in previous Mnet survival shows such as “Produce.”

“Boys Planet” production team claims to have consulted with external organizations to ensure the fairness of the voting system, but it has not addressed other issues such as differences in screen time or evil editing.

However, although these issues have been raised several times in Mnet’s previous “Produce” Series, “Boys 24”, and “Idol School”, there has been zero improvements. 

As a result, “Boys Planet” is criticized for securing only fairness in voting and not considering other factors reflected in the vote.

Source: Wikitree. 

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