A witness investigation on the allegation of KBS manipulating Im Young-woong’s score has been done… The Korea Communications Standards Commission to discuss this issue
The police conducted a witness investigation on KBS in relation to “the allegation of Im Young-woong’s Music Bank broadcasting score being manipulated”. Korea Communications Standards Commission will also discuss this on the agenda.
It’s been confirmed that the Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station recently completed an investigation on KBS officials as the witness regarding the complaint of “KBS deliberately lowered down Im Young-woong’s broadcasting score to manipulate the singers’ rankings”.
After receiving the complaint from the National Human Rights Commission against KBS and LE SSERAFIM’s agency – HYBE’s Souce Music, Yeongdeungpo Police Station has been carrying out an investigation.
Im Young-woong appeared on the May 13th broadcast of Music Bank and was nominated for 1st place with the song “If We Ever Meet Again”, but received 0 points in the “broadcasting score” category. He eventually ranked 2nd place with 7,035 points, following No.1 LE SSERAFIM (7881 points).
At that time, Im Young-woong continued his sensation in the music industry with his first full album “IM HERO” surpassing 1 million pre-orders. The fact that he ranked 2nd place just because of the broadcasting score caused a backlash among the public.
Not only pointing out the possibility of the broadcasting station’s “score manipulation”, many viewers also signed petitions calling for the disclosure of the broadcasting score calculating criteria.
KBS was subject to legal sanction over the allegation of manipulating Lim Young-woong’s broadcasting score. A, who filed a complaint, said, “Although Music Bank offers a ratio of “digital (60%) + broadcasting (20%) + viewers’ preference (10%) + physical (5%) + SNS(5%)’, it is still hard to understand why LE SSERAFIM got a broadcasting score of 5,348. KBS has not given a clear explanation for this issue either”, adding “In addition to Lim Young-woong, singer Tae-yeon (in the 1st to 3rd weeks of March) and girl group Red Velvet (in the 4th week of April) also gave up their No.1 spot to other singers due to lack of broadcasting points.”
A criticized, “In the explanation on the issue related to Music Bank, they still avoid the problem that has become a public issue, made some significant eros in the evidence they presented and has no respect for the viewers and the reason why they are upset over the issue”, adding “The reason why the defendant (KBS) is suspected of manipulating the broadcast score is that they can benefit from the singers.”
In addition, “If there was any manipulation during the scoring calculation process, it cannot be seen as a solo crime done by the production team of Music Bank, but also Source Music and the official of LE SSERAFIM’s agency – HYBE’s Chairman Bang Si-hyuk”, adding “There is a possibility that some officials from LE SSERAFIM’s agency have join Music Bank in the manipulation.”
Apart from the police investigation, the alleged manipulation of Lim Young-woong’s broadcasting scores will be discussed at a subcommittee of the Korea Communications Standards Commission on July 26th. “Music Bank” has been proposed as a violation of objectivity in Article 14 of the Broadcasting Review Regulations. If it is determined as a violation, court sanctions may be imposed on KBS.
A also added in their complaint, saying “There’s no reason for the “Music Bank” production team to manipulate the rankings just for ratings”, adding “The possibility of a conspiracy between them and LE SSERAFIM’s agency cannot be ruled out.”
Source: daum
