By Kim Se-jeong
Staff Reporter
Two weeks ago, a French television network, TV5Monde, was launched in Korea.
Officials of the network said the market in Korea is a tough one for European channels due to the big American presence.
TV5Monde is now broadcast on KT Qook TV, the first IPTV operator in Korea, and will start to provide Korean subtitles this year.
Nicolas Piccato, president of Panda Media in charge of distribution of the network in Korea, said the nationwide broadcasting will help to raise awareness of French TV and Europe in general.
The network is a global channel, with programming on films, music, sports, education, news, cooking, home and gardening airing for 24 hours a day, seven days a week in French.
The channel is available to 200 million households worldwide.
According to the Korea Communication Commission, an authorization agency for foreign broadcasting channels, out of 50 foreign channels that are currently permitted to air in Korea, 24 are American.
France has six channels, including TV5Monde and Britain 7.
TV5Monde began programming in 2002.
Picatto said for now the main object is to have people know about the channel: "You have to know it to like it."
At the same time, he is well aware of America's influence in the industry and the fact that it could hinder the French and European channels from growing.
Choi Gwang-chul, president of EU Media, the distributor of Euro News in Korea, which had suffered from the American-driven market, agreed with Piccato.
He said the American channels carry so much weight in Korea that people think it's the only option available.
"That's why I launched the Euro News -- in order to deliver a different view or perspective to the Korean public," he said.
But not all did seem to agree with Piccato and Choi.
Alexandre Gelbras from the French Embassy in Seoul said despite the massive presence of American channels in place, the French channel has successfully found its niche market.
"On the American channel, Koreans people watch TV (drama) series like CSI (a crime drama television series). But on the French channel, people watch documentaries about museums, art, food and wine of France."
Despite the country's obsession with English and the English-speaking culture, France has worked hard to establish itself in the market. This was a factor to explain why French music and films were doing exceptionally well compared to other European countries.