CJENM has been fined by The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) for vote manipulation in their "Produce 101" series.
"Produce 101" is one of the most sought-after and successful reality TV series in South Korea. It gave birth to many famous names in the Kpop industry as it was said to discover the secret recipe for success.
The reality show was launched in 2016 by entertainment conglomerate CJENM and the first season was said to have the second-largest budget of all shows produced by Mnet. The franchise is built around creating Korea's ultimate "idol group" and adopting a battle concept where 101 aspiring idols are pitted against one another in talent showdowns weekly.
But the run of the successful TV show was wrapped in controversies for alleged vote manipulation. On July 22, as reported by Allkpop, The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) imposed penalties on the production company for manipulating the votes of their reality series- "Produce."
Giving the most severe punishment KCSC has, CJ ENM is sentenced by a unanimous vote.
The KCSC stated that the controversy would remain as a stain in Korean broadcast history. The broadcast program fooled and defrauded the viewers and negated the efforts exerted by the innocent contestants. The blot was made from the year 2016 until 2019, and the number of those involved increased in every season.
The KCSC also mentioned a similar case in a different audition program titled "Idol School," and the staff was prosecuted without detention.
Furthermore, the commission also stated that CJ ENM was responsible for failing to control their internal movements, and the company had attempted to place all the blame on the producers.
Meanwhile, in response to the statement of KCSC, CJENM stated that they take full responsibility for the controversy, and they are currently looking into measures to correct their mistakes and make improvements for the company.
"We apologize for causing such disappointment. We're deeply sorry. We have no excuses, and we are responsible for this," said CJENM.
