EBS program director makes 1,000th documentary episode
Kim Su-hyeon
By Kwon Ji-youn
Kim Su-hyeon, a producer at the Educational Broadcasting System (EBS), will direct the 1,000th episode of “Knowledge Channel e,” a popular documentary program that covers a variety of topics and issues, to air on April 30.
“At first, I felt the pressure of having to maintain the program’s favorable reputation,” Kim said. “But all that aside, I’m glad I’ve been given the chance to produce the 1,000th episode.”
Kim, 30, may not have produced all 1,000 episodes, but she has shown significant competence in the last 73 that she has been responsible for, beginning last August.
“Knowledge Channel e,” which first aired on Sept. 5, 2005, quickly acquired a name for covering socially sensitive topics.
Despite its successes, Kim said that “it is hard to balance such a range of perspectives on sensitive topics.”
The program has enjoyed a long run. When asked about how it maintained its popularity over almost eight years, Kim said that appropriate topic selections were crucial.
“I think it’s important to pick topics that are timely and that viewers can relate to, rather than unilaterally feeding them information,” she said.
This has been clearly effective ― “Knowledge Channel e” led this year’s first quarter EBS Program VOD (video on demand) usage rankings, reaching 22 percent.
Kim, in anticipation of the 1,000th episode, dropped a hint as to what the episode will entail.
“The program itself is segmented into categories, including education, culture and knowledge,” she said. “These are all words that contain the letter ‘e’. We are going to use these categories to scan, browse and organize the program’s episodes so far.”