MBC & HYBE Cooperation After Reconciliation: From BTS Jin’s Program After Discharge To SEVENTEEN Special Documentary
From BTS’s Jin to the boy group SEVENTEEN, HYBE’s representative artists will make their appearances on MBC programs
Last year, MBC signed a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with HYBE, putting an end to the 4 years of their cold war. The two companies agreed to cooperate for the joint growth of the Korean music industry and the broadcasting content market.
The conflict between the two sides broke out in 2018 when BTS was not able to participate in the ending section of MBC’s Year-end Music Festival Gayo Daejejeon. Back then, BTS became a syndrome and was the first Korean singer to sweep international awards so they were chosen to wrap up music festivals of broadcasters such as SBS and KBS. However, MBC had SM Entertainment’s group EXO for their ending stage.
After that event, BTS did not attend the 2019 MBC year-end music festival but joined ABC’s New Year Special ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2020’ at Times Square, New York on December 31st, 2019. As the conflict between MBC and HYBE continued, MBC even banned HYBE’s group Enhypen and SEVENTEEN from performing on “Music Core”.
In the end, MBC offered a reconciliation after four years. Some speculated that it might have been because of the expansion of HYBE after acquiring Pledis, Source Music, Belift Lab, and KOZ Entertainment as its labels. Since the reconciliation, HYBE artists have begun appearing on MBC programs again.
Enhypen was the first HYBE artist to appear on “Music Core” again, followed by LE SSERAFIM’s appearance on “Omniscient Interfering View” and NU’EST Hwang Min-hyun being the MC for Gayo Daejejeon last year. In addition, BTS’s Jin, who was discharged from the military last month, has also finished recording MBC’s program “The Half-Star Hotel in Lost Island”. The fact that this is the first entertainment show selected by Jin right after his military discharge also added meaning to HYBE and MBC’s reconciliation.
MBC will air a special documentary titled “Magic Hour, The Seventeen” at 8:40 p.m. on July 5th. This is a special documentary that highlights the K-pop industry with cultural performances of SEVENTEEN and their fans, who have been growing up together ever since the group’s debut in 2015.
The program will allow viewers to have a look at SEVENTEEN’s accomplishments throughout the past nine years, including setting a world record as their 10th mini album “FML” became the best-selling album last year. The documentary will also feature backstage stories of when SEVENTEEN entered Nissan Stadium, the largest concert venue in Japan, and various events.
Such a documentary was made possible thanks to the reconciliation of HYBE and MBC. Both sides are maintaining their cooperation in various ways aside from artists’ broadcast appearances. An insider from the music industry said, “Their cooperation can be a good precedent if they join hands in various fields such as entertainment, current affairs, liberal arts as well as performances”.
