KBS Chief Producer Responds To Calls For Kim Junsu To Appear On "Music Bank"

KBS and Kim Junsu’s representatives are in conflict over Kim Junsu’s potential appearance on “Music Bank.”

Recently, there have been several petitions uploaded to KBS’s viewer rights center website asking that Kim Junsu be cast for music shows like “Music Bank.” Kim Junsu made a comeback on November 10 with the new mini album “Pit A Pat” and is currently promoting his title track of the same name. One such petition demanding fairness in broadcast appearance opportunities has amassed over 3000 “agreements.”

In response to these petitions, Kim Kwang Soo, a chief producer (CP) at KBS’s variety center, released a statement.

Thank you to all the viewers who have shown interest and love in KBS’s programs.

As the producer in charge of “Music Bank,” this is my response to the petitions.

First, “Music Bank” is a program that decides its rankings based on weekly album sales, digital sales, TV broadcasts, and viewers’ choices.

“Music Bank” casts singers who are promoting within the required time period and have expressed the desire to appear. We cannot reveal the pros and cons over whether to cast someone or not if the singer in question did not reveal their desire to promote.

It would be difficult for us to explain our reasons for not casting one singer over another. Casting for “Music Bank” is inevitably a process of inclusion and exclusion. If we were to explain our reasons for excluding an artist, the artist or their fans might take it as a denunciation. There is no broadcaster who explains why they don’t cast one artist over another on music shows. KBS will continue to give a fair chance to a wide range of artists. We ask for your interest and support. Thank you.

C-JeS Entertainment, Kim Junsu’s agency, issued their own response to the chief producer’s statement. The agency stated, “Through the media, we have asked several times the reasons that our artist was not able to appear on variety shows on public broadcast channels. We cannot accept the idea that we did not express a desire to appear.”

In interviews this past summer, Kim Junsu clearly expressed his desire to appear on TV and that many people, including producing directors, misunderstood this as a personal choice. He emphasized that this was not because he chose not to appear on TV, but that he couldn’t.

In a phone interview with Hankyung, CP Kim Kwang Soo responded, “Artists who want to appear on a music show request ‘face time’ interviews in advance and we discuss their potential appearance together. I don’t know about other variety shows, but as the head of ‘Music Bank,’ I have never once received a ‘face time’ request from the artist in question.”

“Face time” is a term that refers to advance meetings that singers’ managers have with the music show production staff ahead of their singers’ comeback to discuss their appearance on the show. Most music shows will decide the lineup based on these “face time” interviews, which also includes discussions about the length of the artists’ appearances.

“Music Bank” is currently on a three-week break due to the upcoming 2020 KBS Song Festival.

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