Nickelodeon Bets on K-pop to Revive Ratings

Louriza Tronco, Megan Lee, and Erika Tham bound onstage at a warmup party before the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards wearing shiny black and gold outfits and splashes of pink or red in their hair. They strut and wave and belt out two songs, Light It Up and Party Tonight, from their upcoming show Make It Pop. “This is a dream come true for us,” Tronco says from the stage.

If the Viacom kids’ channel has its way, the three will be Nickelodeon’s newest stars—in what could be one of its most ethnically diverse hits. Make It Pop, which premieres on April 6, is the first mainstream U.S. series inspired by K-pop, the fast-growing South Korean pop music genre. The actresses, chosen in a global casting call, are of Chinese-Dutch, Filipino, and Korean descent.