“Show! Music Core” & “Inkigayo” May Be Cancelled From July To August This Year

While nothing has been confirmed yet, Korean media reports that MBC‘s Show! Music Core and SBS‘s Inkigayo may be temporarily canceled between July and August this year—here’s why.

June may have only just started, but this summer’s lineup is already packed with confirmed and expected comebacks. BTS recently announced they’ll be releasing a new album on July 9, with CIX, SF9, SHINee‘s Key, and former 2NE1‘s Minzy all due to make their comebacks in the same month.

| Big Hit Music

Red Velvet‘s long-awaited comeback has been confirmed with aims of releasing in August, and the participants from Mnet‘s Kingdom are expected to ride the wave of the competition with summer singles too.

| SM Entertainment

However, these groups may not have as many opportunities to promote on music shows. According to Korean media reports, two of the biggest music shows are likely to be canceled from July to August: MBC’s Show! Music Core and SBS’s Inkigayo. Why? It’s all because of the upcoming Olympics.

| Olympics.com

After being postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Summer Olympics is set to be held in Tokyo, Japan this summer. Given that the world has already been waiting an extra year for the games, public interest is expected to be very high. As such, several television channels are expected to cancel their regular programming in favor of airing the Olympics.

“Show! Music Core” hosts SF9’s Chani, former IZ*ONE’s Minju, and Stray Kids’ Hyunjin | MBC

KBS‘s Music Bank is unlikely to be affected as the show airs on KBS2, while the Olympics will air on KBS 1. SBS MTV, MBC Every1, and Mnet also won’t be airing the games, which means The Show, Show Champion, and M Countdown should go ahead as scheduled.

MBC and SBS, however, are expected to air the Olympics as they have in previous years. In turn, Show! Music Core and Inkigayo are likely to be canceled just as they were in 2018 when the Winter Olympics was held in South Korea.

“Inkigayo” hosts TREASURE’s Jihoon, former IZ*ONE’s Yujin, and NCT’s Sungchan | SBS

This year’s Summer Olympics will begin on Friday, July 23, 2021 and run until Sunday, August 8, 2021. This means Show! Music Core and Inkigayo could each be off-air for three episodes in a row.

According to media reports, companies are now debating whether to schedule comebacks during the Olympics period, with some industry experts suggesting that producing YouTube performances may be a more cost-effective way for groups to show off their songs this summer.