'Sex' legal as o'seas webs invade screens
Koreans enjoy foreign programming
Today, six stations -- CNN, NHK, HBO, OCN, MTV and Star TV -- are available on cable, and are winning local auds who are as hooked on "Sex & the City" as on Korean soaps.
But foreign TV stations have a small window of entry into the country. The government limits the number of foreign stations on cable to 10%. As there are 70 stations on cable, this means a maximum of seven foreign channels.
"We do this to protect Korean broadcasters. We are also tightly controlling the way the stations come into the country," says Ha-woong Jung, spokesperson for the Korean Cable Television Assn.
By law, foreign broadcasters must form a partnership with a Korean company to air in the country. For instance, U.S.-based news station CNN partnered with Korea's CSTV, and music channel V Korea is a joint venture between India's Star TV and Korea's Doremi Media.
Others air part-time on Korean stations. They include education channel JEI, which is airs four hours of programs from America's Nickelodeon; Q Channel, which will begin airing one hour of historical programming daily from U.S. cabler the History Channel; and MBC Sports, which is partly funded by ESPN, and began airing its programming on Nov. 1.
Station synergies
"Korean cable stations sign alliances with foreign channels because it's cheaper than producing their own programs and they usually get higher-quality programs. Also, foreign programs get high viewing rates," says broadcasting critic Yong-ho Shin.
Accordingly, there is an energetic search for partners inside and outside Korea, particularly since digital satellite broadcasting begins here March 1. About 84 channels will air, which means eight can be foreign under the law. But Korea Digital Broadcasting plans to expand the number of channels to 114 by 2006, which means 11 foreign stations can be allowed.
Still, some find entering the Korean cable market, estimated at 5 million viewers, challenging. One is the Australian Broadcasting Corp., which hopes to air Asia Pacific, a news, information and education channel, in Korea.
"The company's looking for a partner right now, but it's a confusing and frustrating process," says In-sook Kim, an official in the Australian Embassy in Korea, who is helping ABC get settled here. "Competition is high and Korean companies are only interested in big-name American and British stations," she explains.
The Korean government is being urged to lift the limit on foreign stations for the sake of viewers as well as the local broadcasting industry, which could use fresh capital. "We should allow foreign stations free access while requiring them to reinvest part of their profit here," media critic Kook-nam Bae says.
