Produce 48 's contestants performed the theme song on Episode 570 of M Countdown in May 2018. The winners of the previous series, I.O.I and Wanna One, made appearances at the recording. On April 22, the series' theme song " Nekkoya (Pick Me)" (내꺼야 (Pick Me)) was recorded by the contestants of the show with HKT48's Sakura Miyawaki as center.
![takeuchi miyu bae yoon jung takeuchi miyu bae yoon jung](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DniYCV8U0AA8jAg.jpg)
The first teaser for the show was released on April 11, 2018. In February 2018, Mnet stated that it would not use the speculated format of having 48 girls from South Korea and 48 girls from Japan competing separately, or that six members of each country would be selected. The concept for Produce 48 was revealed at the 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Japan on November 29, 2017, following a joint performance by AKB48 and South Korean artists Weki Meki, Chungha, Pristin, Idol School, and Fromis 9. The final 12 were selected regardless of nationality. 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.
![takeuchi miyu bae yoon jung takeuchi miyu bae yoon jung](https://1409791524.rsc.cdn77.org/data/images/full/583992/iz-one-chaeyeon-bae-yoon-jung.jpg)
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. 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 show started with 96 contestants, who were initially grouped into several classes. 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. 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. 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. It was directed by An Junyung, who also directed the first two seasons of Produce 101.
![takeuchi miyu bae yoon jung takeuchi miyu bae yoon jung](https://www.allkpop.com/upload/2019/10/content/292103/1572397381-20191029-miyu.jpg)
Produced by AKATV (the company that also produced the second season of Produce 101) for MNET, the show premiered on June 15, 2018, and concluded on August 31, 2018, with 12 episodes. The show announced the final 12 members who made it into, as well as the official name of the group Iz*One during the finale on August 31, 2018. The program itself is primarily in Korean, however staff and trainer instructions were translated onsite by interpreters. The winning 12 contestants, with no nationality caps, as voted only by Korean viewers, would promote as a group for two years and six months.
TAKEUCHI MIYU BAE YOON JUNG SERIES
The show was a collaboration between the Mnet series Produce 101 and the J-pop idol group AKB48. It was a large-scale project in which the public "produces" a girl group by voting for members out of a pool of 96 contestants from South Korea and Japan, as well as voting for the group's concept, name and debut single. Produce 48 was the third season of the South Korean reality competition show Produce 101.