Dispatch Reveals SBS Inkigayo's Explanation For Leaving BTS Out Of This Week's Chart

SBS Inkigayo has been the subject of controversy for leaving BTS‘s “Boy With Luv” out of the charts for the week of April 21st.

Questions about the criteria used by the music show were raised.

According to Dispatch, BLACKPINK and BTS released the album on the same weekday (Friday). BLACKPINK’s “Kill This Love” was released at 12am KST on April 5, while “Boy With Luv” was released at 6pm KST on April 12. However, a disparity occured when BLACKPINK was listed at 4th place 9 days after its release (On April 14). In comparison, BTS was not seen on the charts after 9 days (On April 21), and failed to enter the charts at all.

Dispatch also highlighted the ambiguity in assessing songs based on its release time. Dispatch listed Taeyeon‘s “Four Seasons” as an example. “Four Seasons” was released at 6pm on March 22. For the week of 18-25 March, “4 Seasons” was ranked 23rd.

Dispatch (D) approached SBS (S) for an interview on April 22nd.

D: How do you calculate the charts?

S: Online streams (55%), YouTube (30%), Pre-show votes (5%), TV/Radio play (10%), Album/GaOn Chart (10%)

D: BTS weren’t on the chart on the 3rd week of April.

S: BTS’s song did not fall under the 3rd week of April. It will be reflected in next week’s chart.

D: What was the standard used?

S: Each broadcaster has different charting calculations. It’s hard to disclose details of our criteria.

Dispatch highlighted that BTS took 1st place on Music Bank (April 19) and Music Core (April 20), and commented on how vague the calculation criteria was.

There were parts that didn’t meet our criteria and standards. BTS’s entry in the chart would’ve been unfair [for the other nominees

— SBS Representative

Dispatch highlighted the issue of BLACKPINK charting on Inkigayo as opposed to BTS, with the only difference being the release time of the two songs.

The formula for charting is very complicated. In BTS’s case, there was a part that didn’t meet the criteria (while calculating the score). The reason why the other singer entered the chart is because they met all the criteria.

— SBS Representative

SBS went on to elaborate that there were several standards, not just time.

Dispatch also commented on the issue of pre-show data. According to SBS, YouTube scores is heavily weighted at 30%, the second biggest factor after online streams. BTS set a Guiness World Record for the fastest time to 100 million YouTube views (37 hours, 37 minutes), yet this wasn’t reflected.

In comparision, BLACKPINK took 62 hours to reach 100 million YouTube views.

There were parts that did not meet the criteria when the ranking was being calculated. It was decided that it was right to reflect it next week rather than this week.

— SBS Representative

SBS Inkigayo has been charting since March 17, 2013. Since then, it has been marred by controversies. In 2017, Inkigayo took out real time votes. In 2019, they raised the album score by 5%.