TV Chosun rising as JTBC falters

Coronavirus, Cho Kuk scandal boost TV Chosun

By Park Ji-won

Spurred by the recent surge in news and reality shows, TV Chosun has been roaring and has outperformed its rival JTBC in the ratings race among television networks.

The channel's rise in popularity has been evident in the success of its hit singing competition “Mr. Trot” which has aired every Thursday since January. The audition show, created to select Korea's next top male trot singers, has continued to break the TV network's viewership ratings records. The the latest episode, which aired last Thursday, hit 30.4 percent, becoming the first cable network ever to surpass the 30-percent range.

A recent Gallup poll found “Mr. Trot” is Koreans' favorite TV show this month. The survey, which was conducted among 1,002 viewers between Feb. 18 and 20, showed that 11.4 percent of respondents showed support for the TV Chosun program. It is the third reality TV show ever to have amassed votes in the 10 percent range, following MBC's “Infinite Challenge” (16 percent in January 2015) and JTBC's “Ssulzun” (13.4 percent in March 2017).

A few weeks ago, “Mr. Trot” broke the ratings record set by JTBC's hit TV series “SKY Castle,” which gained 23.8 percent of the viewership in February last year.

The phenomenal success of the show has created a 'trot boom', generating similar TV shows, such as “I am a Trot Singer,” on other television networks.

In the wake of the deadly coronavirus outbreak, TV Chosun's news coverage has also leaped forward to outpace rival JTBC.

According to survey firm TNMS Tuesday, TV Chosun and KBS news shows are currently the two most popular sources of news about the virus. TV Chosun's nightly news broadcast, which airs at 9 p.m. on weekdays, garnered 4.6 percent of ratings ― up 1.3 percentage points from the previous week. KBS topped the most watched news list with 15.5 percent.

The rise of TV Chosun and the fall of JTBC in terms of news shows began in August last year, when former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs Cho Kuk was nominated to become justice minister.

The coronavirus outbreak has become another turning point for the shift in news show ratings between TV Chosun and JTBC, as increasing number of viewers tune into TV Chosun for updated news about the killer virus. As of Wednesday afternoon, over 1,100 people were confirmed to have been infected with the virus, and 12 people had died.

The TV Chosun-JTBC news show rivalry is something few imagined would happen back in December 2011, when several television networks were launched after years of legislative battles. Like other networks, such as Channel A and MBN, TV Chosun and JTBC were portrayed as television networks with no future; largely because the news market at that time was dominated by three national broadcasters ― KBS, MBC and SBS.

At the time, KBS topped the ratings with 18. 1 percent followed by SBS (10.1 percent) and MBC. TV Chosun and JTBC could not compete with the big three in terms of ratings.

A dramatic change came in October 2016 when then-President Park Geun-hye was mired in a corruption scandal involving her long-time friend Choi Soon-sil.

JTBC's ground-breaking scoop on the so-called 'Choi's tablet PC' became a game changer in the television news market, elevating the once minor news channel into a major news show. At its peak, JTBC's prime-time news show marked 18 percent. The surge of JTBC at that point was a precursor to the decline of the big three national channels, and there was a dramatic shift in favor of JTBC in the ratings race in the television news market.

Yearly surveys by weekly magazine Sisa In show that JTBC has been considered the most credible news source among TV viewers since 2017.

A survey by Mediatoday of 1000 people between Dec. 28 and Jan. 1 showed that JTBC earned 21 percent in its media credibility, while TV Chosun earned 15 percent in the same period. Compared to March 2018, the ratings for JTBC dropped 21 percentage points while TV Chosun gained 7 percentage points.

Korea's aging population seems to be another factor helping the rise of TV Chosun, as it is the preferred channel of older Koreans.

In 2018, the number of people in Korea aged over 65 increased by 5 percent year-on-year to 7.11 million, accounting for 14 percent of the total population. Korea is also expected to become the world's most aged society by 2067, thanks to a low national birth rate coinciding with a fast-aging population.

Another survey by Mediatoday showed that those aged over 60 accounted for 40 percent of the viewers of the first five episodes of “Mr. Trot” while viewers aged between 50 and 59 accounted for 27.8 percent, meaning seven out of 10 viewers of the program were aged over 50.

“Elderly people prefer to watch the cable channels. The audition program successfully combined music and performances they know and love,” music critic Jung Min-jae said.