Produce 101

Produce 101 (Korean: 프로듀스 101) is a reality television talent competition franchise created by South Korean entertainment conglomerate CJ E&M, based around the formation of a K-pop girl group or boy group. The format is noted for having no panel of judges, employing audience participation to make decisions, as well as for starting with a very large number of competitors, 101, narrowing that number down to the final 11. The franchise began in 2016 and has since expanded to China, Japan and Thailand. The franchise has attracted a wide following in the world. More than 10 million people cast votes during the finale of Season 2 in 2017, equivalent to a fifth of South Korea's population. In 2018, the eight episodes of Produce 101 China attracted more than 4.3 billion views on Tencent Video. Following the Mnet vote manipulation investigation, on 14 November 2019, producer Ahn Joon-young partially admitted to rigging the votes of all seasons of Produce 101 during police questioning. He was arrested before over allegations of bribery and fraud in the franchise.