Peak Time

Peak Time is a 2023 South Korean reality competition show created by JTBC. It aired on JTBC from February 15 to April 19, 2023, every Wednesday at 20:50 (KST) for the first two episodes before it changed to 22:30 (KST) from the third episode onwards. It was simultaneously broadcast through TV Asahi and Abema in Japan, and TikTok in other parts of the world, and is also available for streaming on TVING in South Korea and on Viki in selected regions.

Hosted by Lee Seung-gi, the program provides a stage for already debuted K-pop boy bands to once again prove their skills to audiences outside of South Korea and compete for the "Worldwide Idol" title. The final Top 6 teams got the special benefit of having their names disclosed while performing on the show and held a concert. The winning team, Vanner received a monetary prize of, an album release, and a global showcase.

Development
JTBC released a teaser video for Peak Time on June 20, 2022, in hopes of recruiting already debuted K-pop boy bands to participate in the show. Under the supervision of JTBC chief producer Yoon Hyun-joon and production director Ma Geon-young, who were both also involved in the production of the successful reality singing competition show Sing Again, the program aims to revitalize the careers of lesser-known Korean idols, regardless of their debut year. Ma commented that he "wanted to provide a platform" to those "who didn't have a chance to make themselves known to the public."

Lee Seung-gi, who also hosted both seasons of Sing Again, was recruited as Peak Time's host. In regards to choosing Lee, the production team noted his excellent wit and hosting skills during Sing Again, as well as his ability to sympathize well with the contestants, often providing musical advice, being a musician himself.

The panel of judges, consisting of eight people, was announced on December 20, 2022. The production team had enlisted former Sing Again judges Kyuhyun and Mino to be part of the panel, with the former being assigned as the lead judge of the show. The panel also includes Jay Park, Kim Sung-kyu, Lee Gi-kwang, Tiffany Young, SM Entertainment performance director Shim Jae-won, as well as prominent songwriter and producer Ryan S. Jhun. Regarding their roles as judges, Jhun aims to instill the importance of teamwork in the contestants, while Young hopes to impart the skills that she has learned through her experiences as a K-pop idol. Moonbyul joined the panel starting from the second round after Mino stepped down to fulfill his mandatory military service.

Voting system
The official website and Naver NOW app are the primary platforms to vote for the contestants.

The first voting phase was opened to the general public on February 16 after Episode 2 and ended on March 15 after Episode 6. Viewers were allowed to vote for up to eight teams and two individuals daily, regardless of their team membership.

The second voting phase was opened to the general public on March 23 after Episode 7 and will end on April 6 at 09:00 (KST). Viewers were allowed to vote for up to four teams and two individuals daily, regardless of their team membership.

Contestants
The show's contestants make up 24 teams, each representing an hour of the day, following the 24-hour clock notation (e.g. Team 01:00, Team 02:00, etc. until Team 24:00). With the exception of Team 24:00, each team represents a K-pop boy band that has already debuted or is at the cusp of debuting. Team 24:00 was created by the judging panel from a pool of individual applicants or "1-member teams". These ten contestants auditioned for the program without their fellow bandmates, as they were not able to participate due to varying reasons. These individual contestants include Gon from Argon, Heedo from B.I.G, Kim Byung-joo from Xeno-T, Kim Hyun-jae from Black6ix, Kim Shin from Team X, Moon Jongup from B.A.P, Minjae from Spectrum, Minseong from Varsity, Taeseon from TRCNG, and Wontak from Rainz. Applicants that were not chosen by the judges were eliminated.

On March 6, 2023, bullying allegations against Kim Hyun-jae of Team 24:00 surfaced from within a popular South Korean online community, leading to his removal from the show on March 13. In a press release from March 9, the producers of Peak Time condemned school bullying and violence and stated that they are leading a "careful investigation" on the allegations to "clearly understand what [had] happened". But as this was not something that could be "concluded in a short amount of time", they ultimately decided to remove Kim.

On April 7, the production team announced that Team 23:00 decided to leave the show before the second elimination round. This was after photos of Karam partying with Japanese AV actors had been published on various South Korean online communities.


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Survival round
Episodes 1 and 2, which were both broadcast on February 15, 2023, encompassed the entirety of the survival round. The results for this round were based solely on the judges' decision. The judges voted for any team whose performance piqued their interest by pressing a "PICK" button. Teams that received between six and eight PICKs automatically advanced to the next round, with a full eight PICKs being called "All PICK", and teams that received three or fewer PICKs were automatically eliminated. Any teams that received between four and five were put on hold until the judges had reached a consensus through further discussions. Full versions of the team performances were uploaded to the official Peak Time YouTube channel, regardless of whether they were previously broadcast or not.

For this round, the 23 teams were divided into three sections: the "Rookie" section, the "Booster" section, and the "Suspended Activity" section. Instead of using their official group names, the teams performed using new names assigned to them through lottery before the start of the survival round. Each team name represents an hour of the day according to the 24-hour clock notation. The teams are forbidden from disclosing their official group names until they either get eliminated or reach the final Top 6.


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Towards the end of the survival round, the 1-member teams were introduced and performed on stage. After seeing all ten performances, the judges chose the contestants whom they wanted to form Team 24:00.

First round – Rival match
The first round, entitled "rival match", took place during Episode 3 and 4, which were aired on February 22 and March 1, 2023, respectively. The judges matched up the remaining 16 teams into eight rival pairs, which were each assigned to either the blue or red corner. Furthermore, each pair received a specific performance theme. The teams were given three weeks to prepare for their performances with the help of experts, which were provided by the show.

The winners were decided by the judging panel. Each judge had a blue and red PICK button, through which they voted for who should win each match. Whenever a tie occurred, which happened between Team 13:00 and Team 14:00, the winning team was decided after a discussion between the judges. The winning team of each pair was awarded a benefit, wherein the cumulative number of votes was doubled at the end of the first voting phase.


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Second round – Union match
Introduced during the latter half of Episode 4, the second round was announced to be a "union match", or a competition between alliances consisting of four teams. Each alliance was tasked to form three smaller units that would represent their unified team in a four-way battle for the rap, vocal, and dance positions. The rap unit had to have a maximum number of five members, while the vocal unit had to have six members at most. Only the dance unit had no member limit.

The winning unit from each battle was determined by the judges. Each winning unit earned 2% of the total cumulative votes that had accumulated by the end of the first phase of voting. These additional votes were awarded to the entirety of the alliance that the winning unit was associated with. An MVP was also chosen from each battle. Determined by 25 guest judges, the MVPs earned 5% of the total cumulative votes, which was added to their respective team's total number of votes.

During the formation of the alliances, Teams 09:00, 20:00, and 11:00 were given the chance to select three teams to join them, forming Alliances A, B, and C, respectively. Teams that were not chosen in the end–namely, Teams 01:00, 04:00, 07:00, and 21:00–formed the last alliance, Alliance D. However, Team 11:00 was given the ability to switch Team 14:00 from Alliance B with Team 21:00 from Alliance D after being chosen by the majority of the 16 teams as the overall winner of the first round.

All alliances had three days and two nights to prepare for their performances. In each unit, members picked their leader and center, who would showcase the highlight of their performance. The performances aired during Episodes 5 and 6, which broadcast on March 8 and 15, respectively.


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Third round – Originals match
The third round was revealed to be an "originals match" in Episode 7, which broadcast on March 22. All 16 teams were assigned an original song based on the number of the ball they had drawn after the union match performances. However, only the ten teams that survived the first elimination round performed during the third round performances. The remaining teams were divided into two leagues: League A and League B. Being the teams that ranked first and second during the first elimination round, respectively, teams 13:00 and 11:00 designated the teams' leagues and their order of performance. In each league, a winning team will be determined by the judges and the audience. A PICK vote from a judge is equivalent to 100 points, while a PICK vote from an audience member is equals to 10 points. The winners will earn 3% of the total cumulative votes that will accumulate by the end of the second phase of voting.


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Final round
K-pop top producers took part in producing songs for this round. During this round their identity was revealed, competed with their original name.

First phase elimination

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Second phase elimination

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Discography
All releases were produced by SLL and Kakao Entertainment. Releases consist of live recordings of a few selected performances from each round.

Audience response
Peak Time has become one of the "most viral TV show[s] in South Korea" after three episodes. Viewers noted that what sets the show apart from other competition series is "the cast's sincerity and passion for music".

Ratings
After the broadcast of the first three episodes, Peak Time reached Rakuten Viki's top 10 most watched shows in 14 countries, including United States, Canada, Bulgaria, Norway, and Australia.