Gov't to ban 'excessive' airing of Olympics and popular events

The government said on Tuesday it will prohibit broadcasters from allocating too much time for major events of high public interest such as the Olympics, as part of efforts to secure viewers' rights to choose diverse programs and allow everyone to enjoy such programs.

Under a revised bill approved by the Cabinet during the day, general-programming channels are not allowed to extend their broadcast of Olympics, World Cup matches or other national attention-grabbing events above a certain rate without valid reasons.

The details about the rate will be decided later by a presidential decree, according to the Korea Communications Commission.

Currently, South Korea has three terrestrial TV broadcasters -- KBS, MBC and SBS -- and four cable channels -- MBN, JTBC, CSTV and Channel A, which offer general programs ranging from news to documentaries, dramas, entertainment show programs and sports.

"Following repeated conflicts over broadcasting rights to major sporting programs, we established ordinances on regulating broadcasters which came into effect this year. Today's revision will put the regulation into a superordinate law so as to manage the issue more effectively," a commission official said.

The revision also stipulates that the communications commission shall notify the public of which broadcaster has the right to air major sporting programs in advance, in order to prevent possible conflicts among broadcasting firms. (Yonhap)