K-Pop’s MAMA Awards Head for Live Broadcast in U.S.

The MAMA Awards, K-pop’s biggest annual prize event, will be broadcast live in the U.S. for the first time, kicking off on Thursday local time.

The awards this year are a three-day event that will start in Los Angeles, California, and then in a novel move shift to Osaka, Japan.

For U.S. viewers, the landmark debut will air live from Thursday and continue through Saturday (Nov. 23) on Samsung TV’s recently-launched K-pop free ad-supported television (FAST) channel #1535.

The coverage begins at 4 PM PST, with red carpet arrivals at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, followed by a main event featuring rapper and producer, Anderson .Paak, and legendary producer J.Y. Park.

Breakout girl group ILLIT will make their U.S. debut, competing for multiple awards. Global girl group KATSEYE is also confirmed to perform, while others attending include TWS, Young Posse and RIIZE, the group that is currently enduring a storm of controversy following the dismissal of band member Seunghan.

(A group claiming to represent RIIZE’s international fans has appointed a lawyer who is tasked with seeking an apology and explanations from the band’s representatives at SM Entertainment and Seunghan’s possible reinstatement.)

Due to the substantial time difference between west Coast U.S. and Japan, the MAMA show will continue almost immediately, with the action shifting to the Kyocera Dome Osaka in Central Japan on Nov. 22 and 23.

Acts scheduled for day two include: BOYNEXTDOOR, ENHYPEN, IVE, izna, Lee Young Ji, ME:I, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, TREASURE and PLAVE.

Those on the day three roster include: (G)I-DLE, aespa, BIBI, G-DRAGON, INI, MEOVV, Seventeen and ZEROBASEONE.

The awards were first launched in 1999 by Korean conglomerate CJ ENM’s music channel Mnet and were known as the Mnet Asian Music Awards, before a rebranding in 2022. They have previously been held in Macau, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam and Japan.

In partnership with CJ ENM, Korean electronics giant Samsung has launched K-Pop FAST channels in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, India, Spain, and Mexico. These carry music videos, concert footage, and interviews with K-Pop’s biggest stars. Samsung says that live events have become a bright spot for Samsung TV Plus and that these notably over-index with the 18 to 49 age demographic. Samsung TV Plus claims more than 88 million active users.