Jcontentree to gain on JTBC news

By Park Hyong-ki

A series of breaking and exclusive news of scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her close associate Choi Soon-sil have brought general cable network operator JTBC into the spotlight.

As it continues to uncover the Choi Soon-sil gate revolving Choi’s role behind President Park, who is now being portrayed as a puppet leader, JTBC’s primetime news rating has been increasing.

This is not only positively affecting the image of JTBC as a reliable investigative news source, but also its listed affiliate Jcontentree, a TV drama and motion picture producer.

The biggest shareholder of Jcontentree, a Kosdaq-listed company, is JoongAng Media Network, a media conglomerate, which owns JoonAng Ilbo daily newspaper and JTBC. JTBC and Jcontentree are drama producing partners.

Kyobo Securities said in a report that the increased rating of JTBC news would enable it to gain advertising revenue and help it make a business turnaround earlier than expected.

JTBC news’ rating jumped from around 4 percent to 8 percent in the last couple of days, while Jcontentree, which also operates multiplex theatre Megabox, also saw its shares climb since Monday. Jcontentree closed at 3,895 won, down 0.38 percent on Thursday.

This monetary advantage would also allow JTBC to allocate more budget to producing content such as dramas, thus would benefit Jcontentree.

“JTBC’s improved earnings would enable Jcontentree’s broadcasting business to grow,” said Jeong Yoo-seok, analyst at Kyobo Securities.

Daishin Securities also said that JTBC could use the advantage of its news rating to expand dramas to gain more advertisements, the cable operator’s main revenue source, by scheduling its dramas ahead of its primetime news, followed by variety shows and another drama.

JTBC reduced the number of its TV drama productions to reduce losses through cost cuts as it is operating in the red.

“There is a possibility of an increase in dramas showing before and after its primetime news next year as it gains recognition,” said Kim Hoi-jae, analyst at Daishin Securities.

Jcontentree recently sold off its magazine publication business to JTBC Plus to focus on TV and movie production and distribution.