TV Networks Rebuff Media Overhaul Plan
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
The government has vowed to speed up the deregulation of the media industry in an attempt to stimulate investment and bring further growth to the market.
However, the plans are encountering fierce resistance from television networks, who fear the changes would make them fair game for corporate takeovers, leading unionists at national channels KBS, MBC and SBS to go on strike.
In a policy report to President Lee Myung-bak Friday, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) suggested a package of proposals for dismantling the traditional boundaries between media markets, and enabling more companies to own television news channels.
The plan to lift the cross-ownership ban on newspapers and television stations is garnering the most attention, as it could open the way for major newspapers ― the Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo and Dong-A Ilbo ― to leverage their dominance into broadcasting. They will be allowed to acquire up to 20 percent of a terrestrial broadcaster or establish their own news channels on cable and Internet protocol television (IPTV).
The KCC is also looking to ease ownership restrictions on television stations and lure bigger companies to invest in the sector. The current law only permits companies with up to three trillion won (about $2.2 billion) in assets own television news channels to protect diversity in media ownership.
Earlier this year the commission suggested that the ceiling should be raised to 10 trillion won, but the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) is looking to go even further and lift the cap altogether.
Foreign companies are also to be offered a bigger slice of the pie, with the KCC promising to remove the 33-percent ownership cap for satellite television channels. The 33-percent cap for foreign investors in newspapers and news agencies in cable system operation is also to be eased.
It remains to be seen whether the suggested changes will take place, as journalists, unions and opposition lawmakers are mounting a ferocious challenge.
The KCC's proposals are virtually identical to the slew of media bills pushed by the GNP at the National Assembly and Friday's policy report to Cheong Wa Dae was more of a rallying cry than a podium for new ideas.
However, a louder sound came from the unionists of KBS, MBC and SBS, who coordinated a collective walkout directly felt by the public Friday, as popular anchors such as Kim Ju-ha and Son Jung-eun were absent from flagship news programs and replaced by non-union workers in a rare instance of striking workers having the sympathy of management, with MBC President Eom Ki-young recently denouncing the government plans as threats to the diversity of discourse and media ownership.
In its policy report, the KCC also promised further support for new media markets such as IPTV and WiBro, the country's homemade wireless Internet technology.
With the goals of attracting two million IPTV customers by the end of the year, the KCC will support promotional efforts and have operators deliver public services such as traffic information through their networks.
There will also be stronger support for WiBro, the Korean version of mobile WiMAX, which has been faltering since its launch in 2006, with the KCC looking to boost local demand by allowing voice calls on WiBro-enabled handsets, and strengthening efforts to export the technology to developing nations, with South America countries the main targets.
The KCC said telecommunications operators plan to spend 6.88 trillion won next year, similar to this year's 6.64 trillion won, to upgrade their networks and buy new equipment for Fiber to the home (FTTH) and other next-generation network technology.