During the recent SBS MTV's 2016 Dream Concert, viewers could not help but notice the absence of I.O.I in the broadcast, and the network has explained the reason for this.
In a statement released by SBS on Monday, June 13, the network explained that "the reason why I.O.I was entirely edited out of the Dream Concert was because of the broadcast length. Other teams were also edited out. There was no malicious intent."
"All performances were aired on SBS Plus, but on the main SBS channel, due to the TV programming schedule, a portion of the performances were inevitably cut out," the statement continued.
According to AllKpop, although Kim Se Jung's solo performance was aired, only I.O.I's name was removed during the introduction of the groups at the beginning of the concert.
Some netizens have accused SBS of discriminating against the group because it was formed on the show Produce 101, which was being aired on cable network channel Mnet.
According to Soompi, artists who were connected to cable networks are usually not promoted on the top three networks, namely, MBC, SBS, and KBS.
"Are they shunning [IOI] because they debuted through a cable channel?" one fan commented. "They abruptly canceled [on IOI] for a radio show appearance before because there was 'not enough space for them on the show', but now they completely edited out their performance."
The Dream Concert was held at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul on June 4 and was aired live on Naver's V app. It was also then broadcasted on Saturday, June 11, on the SBS channel.
