By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
The format of music programs has come a long way in Korea, where the love of Korean pop music is quickly extending to an interest in television music programs. With more than five music shows airing each week on various channels, these shows are now becoming trademarks of local television.
It was back in 1981 when KBS started the first K-pop television show with a charting format, ``Gayo Top 10.'' For the next 17 years, it saw tremendous success as the first program to have such a format based on viewers' and fans' votes.
``Unlike today, when the Internet plays a greater role in every aspect, we would receive post cards with people's vote for their favorite singer of the week written on it. We would combine all those votes, and carry out a survey among producers and music experts for a more professional perspective, and then air the final results,'' Jun Jin-suk, former producer of the program back in 1995 and now the executive director of KBS Changwon, told The Korea Times.
This was basically the start of music programs in Korea, and many other broadcasters started to create their own, with or without the charting system.
The competitive style was popular, but disappeared in the late 1990s when critics criticized the format for triggering album purchases during a recession; the overheated competitiveness among singers, agencies and fans; and questioned the transparency of the charts.
Amid the confusion, a new music program format appeared: music/talk shows. The hit came with singer Lee So-ra's ``Propose'' in 1996. The supposedly shy and quiet Lee surprised fans with her humor and honesty, and the format of singing and talking on the same stage still continues today.
Yoon Do-hyun's ``Love Letter'' took the baton and discovered now-famous stars like Kim Jae-dong, while actor Lee Ha-na's ``Peppermint'' continued the format for only a short period.
While KBS was looking for another host to move on with the already popular format, SBS and MBC geared up with similar programs _ Kim Jung-eun's ``Chocolate'' and ``Music Journey La La La,'' respectively in 2008.