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| Superball Inc Registers “TSH48” Trademark in Shanghai, Fans Speculate on New Idol Group |
Earlier this year, idol fans clocked something odd—Superball Inc (formerly Vernalossom) the company managing AKB48’s overseas sister groups, went and filed a trademark for PEK48, short for “Peking 48”. Everyone thought, “Ooh, a new idol group in Beijing?”
But turns out, PEK48 ain’t your usual 48Group-style pop unit—it’s apparently tied to a Douyin streamer girl group. No debut, no lineup, no further updates. Bit of a ghost ship, if we’re honest.
Now just as things were going quiet, Superball’s stirred the pot again—this time by registering a fresh domain and trademark for TSH48, and yep, fans are guessing it means Team Shanghai 48. But hold up. Isn’t there already a Shanghai group?
Yep—AKB48 Team SH has been running the show in Shanghai since 2018, fully backed by Superball and AKS. Meanwhile, the original SNH48, run by STAR48 (Shanghai Siba), split from AKB48’s management yonks ago—back in 2016, to be exact.
Since then, SNH48’s done their own thing and grown into a whole mini-empire with sister groups of their own.
So what’s TSH48 then? A rebrand? A new unit under Team SH? A rival group? Nobody really knows, and Superball’s staying tight-lipped.
What is confirmed is that TSH48.cn has been officially registered:
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📌 Domain:
tsh48.cn -
🏢 Registrant: Superball Inc (Japan)
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📧 Contact email:
sb_domain@superball.co.jp -
🕰️ Registered on: 22 April 2025
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⏳ Expires on: 22 April 2026
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🔒 Domain status: Transfer prohibited (locked by Interlink registry)
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🌐 DNS:
gdns1.interlink.or.jp,gdns2.interlink.or.jp
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No splash site, no teaser accounts, nothing yet. Just the domain and some speculation flying around Chinese idol circles and old-school 48Group fans.
Some reckon it’s just a placeholder for future expansion, maybe a project tied to online content (like PEK48) or a revival of older naming styles. Others wonder if Superball's plotting to quietly phase out “Team SH” branding altogether and go back to a numbered group format.
Worth noting—registering a domain name doesn’t always mean a new idol group is coming. In the world of entertainment companies, it could be anything from a digital content platform, official online shop, or even just a placeholder for future branding.
PEK48, for instance, seems tied more to Douyin content than traditional idol activities. So while the TSH48 name sounds like a sister group, it might end up being something totally different—like a merch project, streaming unit, or just a way to park the name for now.
Either way, the fact that they’ve now filed both PEK48 and TSH48 trademarks in the same year has definitely raised eyebrows. Not least because TSH48’s name sounds awfully close to SNH48, a name Superball legally can’t use anymore thanks to that long-standing SNH/AKB divorce.
For now, fans are in limbo—curious, confused, and maybe a little cautious.
Will TSH48 be a brand-new idol group? A Douyin content spin-off like PEK48? Or just another domain that ends up collecting dust? We'll be keeping our eyes peeled.
Stay tuned, yeah?