HalloHallo Entertainment has announced on Thursday that they will be partnering with broadcasting giant ABS-CBN Corporation for the formation of MNL48.
They will be an upcoming foreign sister group of the Japanese all-girl idol group AKB48 based in the Philippines.
The company describes the partnership with the broadcasting giant as “the next big thing on Philippine television”.
According to the release, the MNL48 “talent show” is set to be patterned to the Original AKB48 format, which is expected to involve public voting to determine the members and their ranking.
Details regarding the upcoming show, including the show’s title, premiere date, and its mechanics, have yet to be revealed as of this time.
“We’re very excited for this partnership and with ABS-CBN as the home for our new project, we’re very positive that this will be one of our biggest milestones yet.” said Mr. Paulo Kurosawa, President of HalloHallo Entertainment.
The company will kick-off their promotion of MNL48 at the AsiaPOP Comicon Manila 2017, happening this August 25-27 at the SMX Convention Center – Manila in Pasay City.
AKB48 was formed in 2005 as “idols you can meet”, which regularly hosts events, where fans can interact with its members, including taking pictures or shaking hands.
Since then, they have been one of the most successful girl groups in the world, and releasing several singles and albums which being sold in millions worldwide.
The idol group currently holds the Guinness Book of World Records for Largest pop group, which was set in March 2013.
They have since expanded to several sister groups in Japan, which are SKE48 (Sakae, Nagoya), NMB48 (Namba, Osaka), HKT48 (Hakata, Fukuoka), and NGT48 (Niigata).
Their first overseas expansion was JKT48 based in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2011. SNH48 followed the following year, but AKB48 suspended its partnership with the Shanghai-based group in June 2016 due to a contract violation and remove its references on their website.
The group has announced in March 2016 that they will have three more overseas spin-offs, which is BNK48 based in Bangkok, TPE48 based in Taipei, and MNL48 based in Manila.
