“INFINITE CHALLENGE”: GD & TAEYANG’S BIG BANG PHENOMENON ATTRACTS 40M CHINESE VIEWERS

MBC’s representing variety program “Infinite Challenge” is enjoying the effect of BIG BANG phenomenon in China.

“Infinite Challenge” is streamed through China’s video platform Iqiyi. The episode of “Masquerade”, which is part of the music festival, aired on July 4 in South Korea attracted 40 million Chinese viewers on July 9.

On the show the duet partners of the 6 show members were unveiled. The first episode will start from 0 hour of July 6 from Iqiyi, and in just 4 days it attracted 40.41 million views as of the evening of July 9.

A variety program, not a drama, attracting this many viewers is simply unprecedented. The other episodes attracted an average of 2 to 4 million, and this is 10 times bigger.

The reason behind this explosive response is the appearance of BIG BANG. GD and Taeyang, two of the five members, joined the show as part of the music festival, and sang Yukgagsu’s “Heungbo”, attracting all the viewers not only in South Korea but also all across China and Chinese-speaking regions. The show is indeed enjoying the effect of BIG BANG phenomenon in the area.

“Infinite Challenge” will be remade into a Chinese version with the collaboration of the two countries. The program is also huge in China. However, it is much lesser known than SBS’s “Running Man,” so all eyes are on the program to see whether they can catch up on the competitor’s show by taking advantage of the BIG BANG phenomenon.