"Produce X 101" PD Explains Why The New Group Will Have A 5 Year Contract

When Produce 101 first started, their first project group I.O.I had a contract for less than a year, the second season’s Wanna One was for 2 years and season 3’s IZ*ONE is currently signed to a 2 years and 6 months contract. The producers decided to change the contract term for 4th season’s winners even farther into a 5-year contract.

The producers explained that they decided to extend the contract because they realized over the past 3 seasons that fans always felt that the team’s promotions ended too quickly.

The upcoming season’s the debuting team will promote solely with the project group for the first 2.5 years and then be open to promote with their individual agencies as well during the 2nd half.

They will promote exclusively with the group for 2.5 years and then be able to promote collectively with their individual agencies for the second part of their contract.

The most deciding factor was the need to fix a problem that continued to arise after the 3 seasons. I.O.I finished promotions in less than a year. Wanna One arose to become global stars but many were regretful that their promotions ended quickly. They went on a global tour but foreign fans were only able to see them maybe once. It was unfortunate.

— Producer of Produce X 101

They also explained that the final number of members will be revealed through the first episode. I.O.I and Wanna One had eleven members while IZ*ONE has twelve members.