M Countdown () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet from the CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. It features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. First hosted by Leeteuk, Shindong, and Kangin of Super Junior, the show has had various celebrity emcees through the years. As of March 2026, M Countdown is hosted by Park Gun-wook of Zerobaseone, So Jung-hwan of Treasure, Lee Kye-hoon of KickFlip.
Broadcast M Countdown airs live on domestic television at 6PM KST every Thursday. Live streaming is available internationally via the M Countdown On Air page on Mwave's website.
In the Philippines, online multi-view live broadcast of the show is available via gigafest.smart. It began airing on the free-to-air TV5 network from January 31, 2021, however due to low ratings on the network, it was concluded on March 6, 2022. Full episodes with English subtitles are shown every Sunday night, along with another K-Chart show Music Bank on GMA Hallypop. Meanwhile, some episodes of M Countdown like Hot Debut and Comeback Stages are already available on YouTube Philippines since January 2022.
Segments Current segments on the show include Cha-Cha-Cha, MCD Dance Challenge, MCD Vocal Challenge, Storage M, and M Studio. Discontinued segments formerly aired include: B'SHOP (songwriter Bang Si-hyuk introduced a selection of hit songs), MCD Drama (show-hosts acted out various scenarios), MCD News (reported music industry news), and MCD Ranking (ranked celebrities based on certain topics).
Official hosts
Leeteuk and Shindong, with Kangin (November 2005 – August 2007) Leeteuk, Shindong, and Eunhyuk (August 16, 2007 – March 27, 2008) 2PM's Nichkhun, Junho, and Chansung, 2AM's Jo Kwon and Jung Jin-woon, CNBLUE's Kang Min-hyuk, and MBLAQ's Lee Joon and G.O (February 18, 2010–??, 2010) Tony Ahn and Shin So-yul (March 10, 2011 – August 23, 2012) Lee Hong-gi (August 30, 2012 – December 13, 2012) Kim Woo-bin (August 15, 2013 – February 13, 2014) Ahn Jae-hyun and Jung Joon-young (February 27, 2014 – November 20, 2014) Lee Jung-shin, Key, BamBam and Park Jin-young (March 19, 2015 – March 3, 2016) Lee Jung-shin and Key (March 17, 2016 – September 8, 2016) Key (September 22, 2016 – April 13, 2017) Daehwi and Han Hyun-min (April 4, 2019 – February 4, 2021) Miyeon and Nam Yoon-su (February 18, 2021 – January 19, 2023) Miyeon (January 26 – February 16, 2023) Miyeon and Joohoney (February 23, 2023 – July 20, 2023) Miyeon (July 27 – August 31, 2023) Miyeon and Sung Han-bin (September 7, 2023 – November 16, 2023) Sung Han-bin (November 23, 2023 – January 4, 2024) Sung Han-bin, Sohee, and Myung Jae-hyun (January 11, 2024 – February 27, 2025) Sung Han-bin and Myung Jae-hyun (March 6, 2025 – September 4, 2025) Park Gun-wook, So Jung-hwan and Kye-hoon (March 12, 2026 – present)
In February 2010, Mnet announced a new group of eight emcees, comprising select members from 2PM, 2AM, CNBLUE, and MBLAQ. Nicknamed "MCD GUYZ", they hosted the show in subgroups of three or four at a time. This marked the first time M Countdown deviated from its tradition of having 1–2 fixed presenters.
Following Key's departure as host on April 13, 2017, M Countdown announced the implementation of a "special MC system" of guest presenters since a permanent replacement had not yet been decided. The first "new" hosts selected were girl group singers Hani from EXID, and Kyulkyung and Nayoung from Pristin—they appeared on the April 20 broadcast.
Between April 2018 and March 2019, the show was hosted by a "Global MC Crew" of idols who spoke various foreign languages.
M Countdown chart Chart rankings are calculated by combining the following for a total of 12,000 points: (Note: Scroll down to the section marked "Voting" and click/tap the down arrow to the right side of the screen to view chart breakdown and eligibility criteria.) Digital music sales from Circle (60%) Social media points from YouTube and short form content from various platforms. (10%) Album sales data from Circle (15%) Global fan votes via Mnet Plus (15%) Mnet broadcast points (10%) Live-vote (10%; first-place nominees only)
Data is collected from Monday to Sunday.
Songs can win a maximum of three times before being removed from the chart.
Girls' Generation was the only act to achieve the perfect score of 10,000 points under the fourth and fifth scoring systems. Since then, only Exo, BTS, Shinee, Twice, and NU'EST have achieved the perfect score of 11,000 points.
Winners While previous revisions of this article included winners from 2004 to 2007, that information was not supported by any secondary sources since its initial addition in 2011. A lack of media coverage of the show on Naver for those particular years makes sourcing the information difficult. As such, those sections have been removed from the page and only winners from 2008 to present are cited.
Triple crowns The term triple crown refers to when a song achieves three wins on the show. After that, it becomes ineligible for first place and is removed from the chart. The following is a list of all songs that have achieved a triple crown on M Countdown from 2008 to present.
Artist Song Wins 2008 MC Mong "Circus" May 8, May 22, June 12 Taeyang "Look Only At Me" June 19, June 26, July 3 Wonder Girls "So Hot" July 10, July 17, July 24 Lee Hyori "U-Go-Girl" July 31, August 14, August 21 BigBang "Haru Haru" August 28, September 4, September 11 TVXQ "Mirotic" October 9, October 23, October 30 2009 Seungri "Strong Baby" January 22, February 5, February 19 Kara "Honey" March 5, March 12, March 26 2PM "Again & Again" May 7, May 14, May 21 "I Hate You" July 2, July 9, July 16 2NE1 "I Don't Care" July 23, August 6, August 13 G-Dragon "Heartbreaker" September 10, September 17, September 24 2010 2PM "Without U" April 29, May 6, May 13 2NE1 "Can't Nobody" September 23, September 30, October 7 Girls' Generation "Hoot" November 18, November 25, December 2 2011 Seungri "What Can I Do" January 27, February 3, February 10 BigBang "Tonight" March 3, March 10, March 17 CNBLUE "Intuition" March 31, April 7, April 14 f(x) "Pinocchio (Danger)" May 5, May 12, May 19 Beast "Fiction" May 26, June 2, June 9 Super Junior "Mr. Simple" August 11, August 18, August 25 Girls' Generation "The Boys" October 27, November 3, November 10 Trouble Maker "Trouble Maker" December 15, December 22, December 29 2012 Girls' Generation-TTS "Twinkle" May 10, May 17, May 24 Infinite "The Chaser" May 31, June 7, June 14 f(x) "Electric Shock" June 21, June 28, July 5 Super Junior "Sexy, Free & Single" July 12, July 19, July 26 Beast "Beautiful Night" August 2, August 9, August 16 Psy "Gangnam Style" August 23, August 30, September 6 G-Dragon "Crayon" September 27, October 4, October 11 Lee Hi "1,2,3,4" November 8, November 15, November 22 Lee Seung-gi "Return" November 29, December 6, December 13 2013 Yang Yo-seob "Caffeine" December 20, December 27, January 3 Girls' Generation "I Got a Boy" January 10, January 17, January 24 Sistar19 "Gone Not Around Any Longer" February 7, February 14, February 21 Shinee "Dream Girl" February 28, March 7, March 14 Psy "Gentleman" April 18, April 25, May 2 Shinhwa "This Love" May 23, May 30, June 6 Sistar "Give It To Me" June 20, June 27, July 4 Exo "Growl" August 22, August 29, September 5 2014 Exo "Miracles in December" December 19, December 26, January 2 TVXQ "Something" January 16, January 23, January 30 Akdong Musician "200%" April 17, April 24, May 1 Taeyang "Eyes, Nose, Lips" June 12, June 19, July 3 Winner "Empty" August 21, August 28, September 18 Epik High "Happen Ending" October 30, November 6, November 13 2015 Shinhwa "Sniper" March 12, March 19, March 26 Exo "Call Me Baby" April 9, April 16, April 30 Girls' Generation "Lion Heart" August 27, September 3, September 10 Taeyeon "I" October 15, October 22, October 29 2016 Psy "Daddy" December 17, December 24, January 7 iKon "Dumb & Dumber" January 14, January 21, January 28 GFriend "Rough" February 4, February 11, February 18 Twice "Cheer Up" May 5, May 19, May 26 Exo "Monster" June 16, June 23, June 30 GFriend "Navillera" July 21, July 28, August 4 2017 BigBang "Fxxk It" December 22, January 5, January 12 Mamamoo "Yes I Am" June 29, July 6, July 13 Exo "Ko Ko Bop" July 27, August 3, August 10 Wanna One "Energetic" August 17, August 24, August 31 2018 iKon "Love Scenario" February 1, March 1, March 8 Blackpink "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" June 28, July 5, July 12 2019 Seventeen "Home" January 31, February 7, February 14 X1 "Flash" September 5, September 12, September 19 2020 Itzy "Wannabe" March 19, March 26, April 2 "Not Shy" September 3, September 10, September 17 2021 (G)I-dle "Hwaa" January 21, January 28, February 4 NCT Dream "Hot Sauce" May 20, May 27, June 3 NCT 127 "Sticker" September 23, September 30, October 7 2022 BigBang "Still Life" April 14, April 21, April 28 BTS "Yet to Come" June 16, June 23, June 30 Blackpink "Pink Venom" August 25, September 1, September 8 "Shut Down" September 22, September 29, October 6 2023 BSS (feat. Lee Young-ji) "Fighting" February 16, February 23, March 2 BTS "Take Two" June 22, June 29, July 6 Jungkook (feat. Latto) "Seven" July 20, July 27, August 3 V "Love Me Again" August 24, August 31, September 7 "Slow Dancing" September 14, September 21, September 28 Jungkook (feat. Jack Harlow) "3D" October 5, October 12, October 19 2024 (G)I-dle "Super Lady" February 8, February 15, February 22 Le Sserafim "Easy" February 29, March 7, March 14 Aespa "Armageddon" June 6, June 13, June 20 Le Sserafim "Crazy" September 12, September 19, September 26 2025 Ive "Rebel Heart" January 23, January 30, February 6 Jennie "Like Jennie" March 20, March 27, April 3 Blackpink "Jump" July 17, July 24, July 31 Aespa "Rich Man" September 18, September 25, October 2 2026 BTS "Swim" March 26, April 2, April 9 Cortis "RedRed" April 30, May 7, May 14
Achievements by artists
Most No. 1 winners Rank Artist Count 1st Twice 25 2nd Big Bang 24 3rd Exo 20 4th BTS 19 5th Girls' Generation 186th Red Velvet17 Blackpink 7th Seventeen 8th 2NE1 15 (G)I-dle 9th 2PM 14 Beast/Highlight Itzy
Most Triple Crowns Rank Artist Count 1st Exo 5 songs 2nd Big Bang 4 songs Blackpink 3rd 2PM 3 songs Girls' Generation Psy BTS 4th 2NE1 2 songs G-Dragon f(x) Super Junior Beast/Highlight TVXQ Taeyang Shinhwa GFriend iKon Itzy V Jungkook (G)I-dle Le Sserafim
Top 10 Highest Scores (1st–6th System) July 29, 2004 – March 3, 2011 Rank Artist Song Score Date 1st 2NE1 "I Don't Care" 981.3 August 13, 2009 2nd 979.8 August 6, 2009 3rd 977.9 July 23, 2009 4th 2AM "Can't Let You Go Even If I Die" 976 February 25, 2010 5th G-Dragon "Heartbreaker" 975.7 September 24, 2009 6th 2PM "Again & Again" 975 May 21, 2009 7th G-Dragon "Heartbreaker" 974.5 September 17, 2009 8th 2PM "Again & Again" 973.4 May 14, 2009 9th G-Dragon "Heartbreaker" 973.2 September 10, 2009 10th Shinee "Ring Ding Dong" 972.6 November 5, 2009
Top 10 Highest Scores (7th–8th System) March 10, 2011 – August 23, 2012
Scoring 7th System: Digital Single Sales (40%), Album Sales (10%), Asia/Global Fan Vote (15%), Preferences of Music Experts (10%), Real-Time Charts (15%), SMS Vote (10%)
Scoring 8th System: Digital Single Sales (45%), Album Sales (10%), Global Fan Vote (15%), Mnet Broadcasting (5%), Preferences of Music Experts (10%), Real-Time Charts (5%), SMS Vote (10%) Rank Artist Song Score Date 1st CNBLUE "Intuition" 9,654 April 7, 2011 2nd Girls' Generation-TTS "Twinkle" 9,357 May 17, 2012 3rd 9,355 May 10, 2012 4th Kara "Step" 9,314 September 22, 2011 5th f(x) "Electric Shock" 9,296 June 21, 2012 6th Wonder Girls "Be My Baby" 9,290 November 17, 2011 7th CNBLUE "Intuition" 9,255 March 31, 2011 8th Beast "Fiction" 9,253 June 2, 2011 9th Big Bang "Fantastic Baby" 9,204 March 22, 2012 10th Beast "Fiction" 9,191 June 9, 2011
Top 10 Highest Scores (9th–10th System) August 30, 2012 – February 20, 2014