Cable channel Mnet has unveiled a lineup of its remarkable entertainment shows to be introduced in 2022.
Since its inception in 1995, Mnet has expanded the base of the music market through audition programs such as “Superstar K” and has been reborn as a cradle for star discovery. The channel has led to the popularity of hip-hop through “Show Me the Money” and produced globally iconic content such as “I Can See Your Voice“, which has exported its format to 23 regions of the world. For a long time, Mnet has been steadily loved for leading the trend of popular culture with irreplaceable content.
The 2022 lineup announced by Mnet can be explained by three keywords: global, Trending generation Z’s content and new music entertainment. Let’s take a look at Mnet’s 2022 lineup through each keyword.
▲ Global
First of all, the global idol project “I-LAND” will return to season 2. “I-LAND” is an observational reality program that contains the process of the birth of next-generation K-POP artists, and is a joint project that combines Mnet’s planning-production capabilities and HYBE‘s production know-how.
ENHYPEN, who made their debut through ‘I-LAND‘ which aired in 2020, has achieved a cumulative album sales of 1 million copies with just two albums released after their debut, and is loved as a K-pop artist in the global music market.
‘I-LAND 2‘ will look for a next-generation K-pop girl group that will succeed ENHYPEN. The industry is already foretelling a blockbuster-level project with a stronger worldview and character.
The unique performance war “Queendom” of K-POP artists will also return to season 2. “Queendom” is a part of Mnet’s comeback war series which was followed by “Road to Kingdom” and “Kingdom: Legendary War“. The high-quality stages from idol participants have received hot attention every season.
In the case of “Legendary War,” which went on air in 2021, the show recorded a total of 300 million views on YouTube videos and 860,000 global online votes, sparking a comeback war craze among K-POP fans around the world beyond Korea. In 2022, the comeback war “Queendom 2,” in which six girl groups will compete by releasing their single albums at the same time.
“I Can See Your Voice”, which captivated fans around the world and established itself as a representative of K-Entertainment, will also return with its 9th season.
“I Can See Your Voice” has been exported to 23 regions around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Thailand, and was selected as a final candidate for the “non-ed entertainment” category at the 2016 International Emmy Awards. In particular, the U.S. version of “I Can See Your Voice,” which aired on FOX, is selected as the most successful program in 2020 while its season 2 is currently on air.
The British version of “I Can See Your Voice” was aired on BBC One and has also confirmed the production of its season 2, while Germany and the Netherlands also confirmed the production of their season 3. This time, the original “I Can See Your Voice 9” will return with an upgraded fun alongside the original power that has captivated the world. Starting on Jan 29th, the show will be broadcast simultaneously on Mnet and cable channel tvN at 10:40 p.m. every Saturday night.
▲ Trending generation Z’s content
Mnet has been leading the trend with content that targets the hearts of the Z generation based on various popular culture genres. In particular, last year, 2021 was made the year of dancers and “Street Woman Fighter“. This year, a large number of hot topics are prepared to capture the hearts of the Millenials and especially Generation Z.
First of all, the second season of “Street Woman Fighter,” which led the trend of K-culture by promoting the potential of K-dancing beyond South Korea, will return as the male version which is called “Street Man Fighter.”
“Street Woman Fighter” has made K-dance the main genre of recent pop culture and proved its potential as a program that maximizes Mnet’s ability to produce survival shows as well as showing respect to the culture and individual charms of dancers. In addition, after the broadcast, offline concerts where the dancers can meet their audience in person as the main characters were sold out nationwide, establishing itself as a trendsetter that leads beyond the broadcast program.
Since the news of the production of “Street Man Fighter” has already been announced, expectations have been high for what kind of characters, dramas, and legendary stages the talented male dancers representing Korea will bring to the audience.
The new season of ‘Show Me the Money‘, which has been taking over trending topics online as well as domestic music charts, is also listed in the lineup. ‘Show Me the Money 10‘, which recently ended, is the first survival show for rappers in Korea with 10 years of heritage and a total of 32 songs released that have created the best performances and hot topics.
‘Show Me the Money 11’, which will be introduced in 2022, is expected to capture the hearts of hip-hop fans once again with more powerful and charming rappers.
▲ New music shows
Mnet’s own music entertainment show is getting rebranded. ‘TMI NEWS‘, an information chart show about Kpop idols and celebrities, is returning as ‘TMI SHOW‘, a talk show where the guests directly pour out TMI related to themselves.
‘TMI SHOW‘ plans to continue active communication by receiving questions about the guests from viewers directly through the official SNS, and revealing the answers to those questions through broadcasting. Attention is now drawn to Lee Mi-joo, who will co-host the show with Boom, and her extraordinary sense of entertainment, to take on her first main MC role and show off her chemistry with Boom. The show will premiere at 8 p.m. KST on February 9th.
In addition, the global music survival game show ‘ARTISTOCK GAME (temporary title)‘, which will be a playground for hip artists, is also planned. The new content that the production team of ‘Show Me the Money’ will introduce adds to the curiosity about its identity. Moreover, a new music entertainment show is slated to be launched this year through the collaboration of “King of Masked Singer” creator Park Won-woo and Mnet.
Hwang Geum-san, director of CJ ENM’s music content management bureau, said, “I would like to thank you once again for your continued interest and support for Mnet in 2021. We plan to present a variety of contents so that Gen Z fans around the world who love K-culture can enjoy together, so please pay a lot of attention.”
