SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Korea Bizwire) – The largest shareholder of the nation’s second largest public broadcaster Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) on Monday voted to fire the company president Kim Jang-kyom for his “politically biased” control of the company’s news coverage. The Foundation for Broadcast Culture (FBC) passed a motion on the dismissal of Kim through its eighth extraordinary board meeting in Seoul. Of six FBC board [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – The Foundation for Broadcast Culture (FBC), the largest shareholder of MBC TV, voted to fire its chairman Thursday, holding him responsible for the network management’s alleged unfair labor practices and politically biased interference in news coverage under previous conservative governments. The FBC board decided to dismiss Chairman Koh Young-ju [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — As labor unions and management remain in a deadlock, the labor disputes at South Korea’s two major broadcasters are likely to continue for a while, industry watchers said Monday. The labor unions at KBS and MBC have started a sit-in since Sept. 4, calling for the removal of management [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — A few thousand union members at Korea’s two biggest TV networks went on strike simultaneously on Monday to protest alleged management interference in news coverage and unfair labor practices. Union members associated with the National Union of Media Workers at KBS and MBC, two of the country’s biggest terrestrial [...]
SEOUL, July 17 (Korea Bizwire) – It’s no secret that South Korean media has had its share of stereotypical depictions of foreign cultures in the past. One of the more notable cases of cultural appropriation in recent years was of the generic rich Middle Eastern man, personified through the character “Mansour” on KBS 2TV’s “Gag [...]
SEOUL, May 18 (Korea Bizwire) — SBS TV’s legal thriller “Whisper” maintained its lead in the Monday-Tuesday late night TV race, while its nearest rival “Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People” ended its run with moderate success, according to data Wednesday. The rating for Tuesday night’s episode 15 of “Whisper” stood at 16.4 percent nationwide, [...]
SEOUL, May 12 (Korea Bizwire) – Actor Lee Min-ho began working at the Gangnam Ward office Friday, as a substitute for his mandatory military service. Wearing a black mask and dressed in black pants and a grey jacket, he arrived at the office around 8:45 a.m. Hundreds of fans were waiting for him. He was [...]
SEOUL, April 10 (Korea Bizwire) – Popular South Korean TV Show Infinite Challenge is incorporating entertainment into lawmaking as several lawmakers who appeared on the show are set to propose six new bills to the National Assembly after discussing reforms to the current law with the show’s fans earlier this month. Infinite Challenge’s move to tap [...]
SEOUL, Mar. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The television viewership race is a zero-sum game. Gains are achieved at the expense of someone’s losses. If a show catches fire, quite often an incoming competitor is, as they say, dead on arrival. With no exception, early 2017 also has had its few winners and many mediocre-to-losing performers [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – The hiatus of popular weekend show “Infinite Challenge” is estimated to cost its network MBC TV around 2 billion won (US$1.75 million) in lost sales, according to industry forecasts Wednesday. First aired in 2005, the mission-oriented reality TV show is one of the most viewed non-drama programs in South [...]