K-pop girl group BLACKPINK’s first livestream concert “The Show” on YouTube last Jan. 31 drew fans from different countries and the Philippines was well represented.
According to YG Entertainment, “The Show” was watched by 280,000 fans who paid to view the concert, the biggest audience for a K-pop girl group online concert to date.
The YouTube channel of BLACKPINK has 56.2 million subscribers as of Jan. 27 and increased to 56.9 million as of writing, and is the second most subscribed official artist channel in the world.
“The Show” earned at least 10 billion won ($8.9 million) from ticket sales based on the standard membership fee of 36,000 won ($32) while the Plus membership cost 48,000 won (P$43).
YG Entertainment said “The Show” was most watched in the US, whose fans accounted for 19.2 percent of the paid viewers followed by Thailand.
The Philippines placed third followed by Japan, Mexico, Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Canada and the UK.
‘On concert day, the hashtag #THESHOWToday and the names Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa and Rosé trended on Twitter.
Online K-pop concerts have become a norm due to the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which prompted countries to impose social distancing.
SM Entertainment’s free concert “SMTOWN Live: Culture Humanity” held last Jan. 1 had 35.83 million viewers in 186 countries and regions. It was streamed on YouTube, Naver V Live, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok.
K-pop boy band BTS’ two-day “Map of the Soul ON:E” paid virtual concert held on Oct. 10 and 11 drew a total of 993,000 viewers or an average of 496,500 viewers per concert day.
BTS’ “Bang Bang Con: The Live” paid online concert held on June 14 last year had 756,600 viewers from 107 countries and regions.
Super Junior’s “Beyond the Super Show” paid online concert on May 31 on Naver V Live had 123,000 fans.
NCT 127’s "NCT 127: Beyond the Origin" paid online concert held on Naver V Live on May 17 was watched by 104,000 fans.
SuperM’s online concert “SuperM: Beyond the Future" on April 26 drew 75,000 viewers from 109 countries and regions.