Coronavirus deals tough blow to Korea's TV industry

Poster for JTBC drama "Itaewon Class," left, and tvN drama "Hi Bye, Mama!." The coronavirus has hit the TV industry hard. Courtesy of JTBC and tvN

By Lee Gyu-lee

Fear of coronavirus has hit the show business industry hard, with most TV shows and series calling off media conferences, and some even halting production.

When Korea's first coronavirus case was reported in January, only a few media conferences in the TV industry were canceled or streamed online. However, as the cases have soared since February, most media events have been carried out online and streamed to avoid bringing big crowds.

Organizing a media conference is a quintessential way to promote a program's release, which means its coverage is very valuable. Cast members and the producer usually host these events to give a sneak peek and behind-the-scenes stories of the production, and many journalists are invited.

However, with these conferences now being streamed online ― accessible to all public ―, publicity for the shows has dropped drastically.

LEFT: Media coverage for the JTBC drama "Itaewon Class" offline and online media conference. Right: Numbers for Mnet's music show "Wanna be Singers," top, and "Do You Know Hip-hop?" Screen capture from NAVER

JTBC's new drama "Itaewon Class" ― starring heartthrob Park Seo-joon and Kim Da-mi ― held a media showcase on Jan. 30 and more than 1,000 reports appeared on the day. As its viewership rating grew, the network held another media event, Friday, hoping to boost publicity further.

But, the event was arranged online and ended with fewer than 200 articles covering for the day.

The media showcase of Mnet's new music shows ― "Wanna be Singers" and "Do You Know Hip-hop?" ― showed conflicting results. "Wanna be Singers," which held an offline event on Feb. 19, had seven times more coverage than the other event, which was streamed online.

Concerns over coronavirus have also affected productions and filming.

Reality shows that take place outside the studio ― "Dining Together," "Thrifters on Tour" and "Where Is My Home" ― have canceled filming.

Other shows filmed in the studios, such as "Comedy Big League" and music audition show "Mr. Trot" have stopped opening their taping to the public.

A scene from JTBC's reality show "Dining Together," in which the cast goes around a neighborhood to find a resident with whom to dine/ Courtesy of JTBC

Broadcaster tvN temporarily suspended filming of its drama "Hi Bye, Mama!," Sunday, after a crew member showed symptoms of coronavirus infection. Production resumed later in the day when the test result was negative.

However, because TV shows and series productions require large crews, any infection case among them would cause filming to be suspended immediately, and have a major impact on the show, especially a show already has been on air.

JTBC official told The Korea Times that the network was making efforts to minimize crews and casts coming in close contact with a crowd. "(For drama production) as of now, I can only say we are asking the crews to wear masks and wash their hands more frequently," the official said.

Two of K-pop singer Chungha's staff were confirmed coronavirus positive last week after visiting Milan Fashion Week in Italy ― held from Feb. 18-24. A handful of celebrities, including actress Song Hye-kyo, Han Ye-seul and Park Min-young, have also gone to the shows.

Although no celebrities had been reported as having the virus as of Monday, concerns are still high because their job involves frequent exposure to large crowds.

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