Public Broadcasting’s Future

 written by 20305 Kim Min Chae

 

Time has changed. Now there is no need for TV. Unlike in the past, when broadcasting content was only accessible on TV, more content is now available from various places other than TV. We can solve or find everything with our digital devices. Perhaps this was a natural phenomenon.

Originally, only two to three public broadcasters existed. However, newspapers and broadcasting were able to combine, and four comprehensive programming channels (TV Chosun, JTBC, Channel A, MBN) were opened in December 2011.

Channel options have expanded and viewers’ choice to watch has improved. But public broadcasting began to lose viewers.

Public broadcasting, which was in competition with general broadcasts, faced a different crisis as new platform powerhouses such as YouTube and Netflix began to seize the domestic media market. The new platforms provided freer and more diverse content. On the other hand, in entertainment and dramas provided by public broadcasting, there were more restrictions. News lost its reliability.

This crisis could be confirmed more accurately by figures. Most of the broadcasting stations’ profits came from advertising. However, the number of people watching public broadcasting has decreased, and broadcasting stations have struggled to make money from advertising. So the loss has worsened day by day. The share of the public advertising market plummeted from 63.6% in 2011 to 36.9% in 2020.

Also, the public debt increased by 100.2 billion in a year. It is not only in terms of profits that show devastating figures. Even in the section of viewer ratings, the three public broadcasters have been on a steady decline since 2016.

On the contrary, looking at the trend of Over The Top (OTT) platforms that are growing steeply, it can be seen that it is a more serious situation.

Broadcasters began to reduce production costs for programs while other platforms, which receive a lot of investment because of their bright future, began to provide more diverse content at higher production costs. This vicious cycle has already begun. Unless something makes a big difference in TV now, the crisis will be difficult to overcome.

Broadcasting stations should not stay in the past but try to adapt. In the present era of diversity, flexibility is required more than ever. This is because more people must create free and diverse content.

However, public broadcasters have a heavier manpower structure than OTT and other broadcasters. As public broadcasting is already inflated by social pressure, expectations and the presence of strong labor unions, its structure is complicated. This makes it difficult to create flexibility easily.

The public has already begun to question why public broadcasting is necessary. Fortunately, these broadcasters already knew this situation and are making various efforts to solve these problems, including producing single media, viewer’s age restrictions, violence and language. Hopefully they can succeed beyond the current crisis and prove the reason for their existence by being different from other broadcasting stations.