Produce 48 brought together 96 girls from idol groups and entertainment companies in Japan and South Korea to form a 12-person Korean-Japanese group that would promote for two and a half years. Formed as a collaboration between Mnet and Yasushi Akimoto, the project planned to adopt the AKB48's concept of "idols you can meet and greet" and be able to perform in a designated theatre. Members of the group are able to promote under their own agencies concurrently, as the show, and the groups' promotions thereafter, are recorded in batches.

The show started with 96 contestants, who were initially grouped into several classes. Episodic competitions were featured in which girls performed in teams on various songs, and were voted by the studio audience, with the winning teams receiving a number of bonus votes to apply to their overall vote count. The viewer-submitted votes were then applied and the girls were ranked, with certain episodes being elimination rounds to reduce the remaining number of contestants.

Of the 96 contestants, 57 of them were from South Korean idol groups and companies, and the other 39 were from Japanese idol groups, consisting of current members of AKB48 and their sister groups. The final 12 will be selected regardless of nationality.

The series was presented by Lee Seung-gi . Other artists featured as cast members:

·         Vocal training:

·         Lee Hong-gi

·         Soyou

·         Rap training: Cheetah

·         Dance training:

·         Bae Yoon-jeong

·         Choi Young-joon

·         May J Lee

·         Special MC's:

·         Jeon So-mi (Episodes 1 and 5)

·         Kang Daniel (Episode 1)

·         Kim Chung-ha (Episode 5)

·         Bora (Position Evaluation - Episodes 6 and 7)

IMAGINI:

PRODUCE 48:

Link:

http://kshow123.net/show/produce-48/episode-1.html