Hybe Revenues Boom in First Half Year, as BTS’ V Readies Solo Album, Suga Enlists in Korean Military

#MISSING | We need your help to find Cameron who has gone #missing from #Birmingham.The 31-year-old is 5ft 9ins tall and is known to have also recently travelled to Hampshire.Anyone with information is asked to contact us via 999 and quote PID: 441705. pic.twitter.com/vG0O5lfVmd— Birmingham Police (@BrumPolice) August 16, 2023When leaving the site, he was picked up by the police on the M3 and taken to Basingstoke railway station.

A. Savage, of the NYC indie rock band Parquet Courts, has shared details of his second solo album. Several Songs About Fire will be released on October 6 via Rough Trade Records.

Justin Bieber is moving full steam ahead without Scooter Braun.

V of boyband BTS has revealed the K-pop girl group that inspired his upcoming solo album, ‘Layover’.BTS’ V will officially make his solo debut in September with his first studio album ‘Layover’, which will include the songs ‘Rainy Days’ and ‘Love Me Again’. The K-pop idol’s record will be led by Min Hee-jin, the CEO of NewJeans’ label ADOR.In a new interview with W Korea, V opened up about ‘Layover’, why he decided to work with Min Hee-jin and the K-pop girl group that was the impetus for the record.“f(x)’s ‘Pink Tape’ was a big inspiration,” V revealed.

Migos rapper Quavo has released his second solo album, Rocket Power, which includes two tracks with his late bandmate Takeoff.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Production begins next month on “Black Tide Island,” a historical drama series that presents a Taiwanese insight into the Korean War. Production is headed by Hakka TV and Go Inside. Halla TV is the local Hakka-language linear satellite television channel operated by Taiwan Broadcasting System.

A number of famous faces took time to pay tribute to Michael Parkinson on Thursday after the news of his death at the age 88 was announced. Legendary for his long-standing TV career, the presenter interviewed a myriad of stars, including George Michael, boxer Mohammed Ali, Meg Ryan and many more.Taking to social media, fellow stars such as Eamonn Holmes and Lord Alan Sugar shared their condolences. Fondly beginning his post by dubbing the late star 'Parky', Eamonn wrote, "King of The Chat Show Hosts .

Stacey Solomon revealed she was “really nervous” as she announced she is launching a homeware line with a big brand.The presenter and social media star, 33, took to Instagram to announce she’s releasing a range of home items with George at Asda and offered a sneak peek look into what will be on sale. Although she got her start on The X Factor and has made a name for herself as a Loose Women panellist, Stacey has also drawn a huge following for her home decor at home at Pickle Cottage, where she lives with Joe Swash and her five children.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief South Korean police said on Wednesday that they had found evidence that the box office performance of 323 films over the past five years had been inflated. Seoul Metropolitan Police said that, as a result, they had referred 69 people from major exhibition chains and 24 film distribution companies to prosecutors.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Amazon-owned Prime Video has launched “The Killing Vote,” a hardboiled crime drama series from Korea. The 12-part show uses the premise that a text message is sent to ordinary citizens who get to vote for or against the application of the death penalty in individual criminal cases. If more than 50% vote in favor, the criminal is killed by a mysterious character called Dog Mask.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hybe Corp., the Korean pop music giant behind BTS, has further expanded the scale of its empire by buying out its partner in Belift Lab, the firm backing another K-pop powerhouse Enhypen. The company said that it has signed an agreement to acquire CJ ENM’s 51.5% stake in Belift. Deal terms were not disclosed.

RTL Group, the owner of American Idol outfit Fremantle, has downgraded its full-year financial expectations following a tricky six months during which group profit tumbled by more than 50%, although Fremantle revenues grew slightly.

Naman Ramachandran Revenues at Bertelsmann’s Luxembourg-based RTL Group, a media giant which owns Fremantle, slid 5.1% to €3.1 billion ($3.4 billion) for the first half of 2023, financial results released on Tuesday have revealed. Adjusted EBITA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, and Amortization) was down to down to €250 million compared to €501 million during the same period in 2022 and group profit was at €132 million, more than 50% down €304 million in 2022. The company attributes this to “challenging TV advertising markets, in particular in Germany.” RTL group’s TV advertising revenue declined 12.5% to €1.18 billion (H1/2022: €1.35 billion).

BTS member V has officially announced his debut solo album, which is being titled ‘Layover’.Announced today (August 8), Big Hit Music took to social media to confirm the album, which is due for release in September. In the visualiser below, the album will be available from September 8 onwards.From V'Layover' Release23. 9.

BTS rapper Suga has begun preparations for his military enlistment.Today (August 7), Big Hit Music released a statement announcing that the rapper had terminated his enlistment postponement and is currently beginning the enlistment process.Under South Korean law, all able-bodied male citizens are to serve for 18-21 months by the age of 28. The BTS members had previously been granted exemptions to defer their enlistments until they turned 30 after receiving an Order of Cultural Merit in 2018 by then-president Moon Jae-in.“We would like to inform our fans that Suga has initiated the military enlistment process by applying for the termination of his enlistment postponement,” Big Hit Entertainment said in its statement.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Upcoming female-led mystery-thriller series “Mask Girl” sees an unassuming office worker secretly rise the heights as a popular, masked online model and, in a downward spiral, become Prisoner #1047. Seemingly repentant, she secretly plots her escape. The Korean-produced show employs three different actors Ko Hyun-jang, Nana and a yet-to-be-revealed newcomer to represent the Kim Mo-mi character in her different evolutions.Netflix will Thursday drop a trailer and three separate posters intended to create intrigue as to Kim’s real nature, ahead of the series’ Aug.

Southeast Asia only added 7,000 net new SVOD subscriptions in the first half of 2023, a big slowdown from 7 million new subscribers in the second half of last year, according to a report from Media Partners Asia (MPA). 

V (real name Kim Tae-hyung), a member of K-pop boyband BTS, has tapped NewJeans creative director Min Hee-jin for his upcoming solo album.Toda (August 2), V’s label Big Hit Music revealed to Sports Donga that the singer would be working with Min Hee-jin, the CEO of NewJean’s label ADOR, for his much-anticipated solo album. The ADOR head is set to lead the project, including elements such as the music, choreography and promotion style.Alongside the confirmation, Big Hit’s also released statements by both V and Min Hee-jin about their upcoming collaboration. “I received the offer late last year,” Min Hee-jin said, as translated by Koreaboo.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Short-form video platform TikTok enjoyed a huge increase in viewership in the first six months of the year in Southeast Asia, contributing to a sudden halt to the overall growth of premium (SVOD) video, according to a new report. Data from AMPD and analysis from consultancy firm Media Partners Asia show that TikTok is increasingly a major driver of viewership growth on mobile and web platforms in the region, responsible for over 70% of growth in streaming minutes over the past two years.

Naman Ramachandran U.K. broadcaster ITV’s total external revenues declined 2% to £1.63 billion ($2.11 billion), according to half year financial results released on Thursday. The decline, which is due to a challenging advertising market, was offset by growth in ITV Studios and digital revenues.