Korean television celebrated its 40th birthday in 1996, and a great deal has changed in the past four decades. In 1956, there were only 300 television sets in Korea, but  that number  has climbed  to an  estimated 6.27 million by 1980, and television viewing has become the favorite form of entertainment or amusement for  the  mass  audience.  As of  1993,  Koreans owned nearly 11.2 million television sets, a penetration rate of nearly 100 percent.

     The early 1960s saw a phenomenal growth in television broadcasting. On December 31, 1961, the first full-scale television station, KEWS-TV, was established and began operation under the Ministry of Cul­ture and Public Information. The second commercial television system, MBC-TV, following the first commercial television, TBC-TV, made its debut in 1969. The advent of MBC-TV brought significant development to the television industry in Korea, and after 1969 the television industry was characterized by furious competition among the three networks.

     The 1970s were highlighted by government intervention into the media system in Korea. In 1972, Pres­ident Park's government imposed censorship on media through the Martial Law Decree. The government revised the Broadcasting Law under the pretext of improving the quality of television programming. After the revision of the law, the government expanded its control of media content by requiring all television and radio stations to review programming before and after transmission. Although the government argued that its action was taken as a result of growing public criticism of broadcasting media practices, many accused the government of wanting to establish a monopoly over television broadcasting.

     The 1980s were the golden years for Korea's television industry. Growth was phenomenal in every dimension: the number of programming hours per week rose from 56 in 1979 to nearly 88.5 in 1989, the number of television stations increased from 12 in 1979 to 78 by 1989, and the number of television sets grew from 4 million in 1979 to nearly 6 million in the same period. In 1981, another technological breakthrough happened: the introduction of color television. Color broadcasting, however, occasioned a renewal of strong competition among the networks.

     As the decade progressed, more controversial entertainment programming appeared, prompting the gov­ernment to establish a new broadcasting law. With the Broadcasting Law of 1987, the Korean Broadcasting Committee was established to oversee all broadcasting in the country. The most important feature of this law was that it guaranteed freedom of broadcasting. However, one of its main provisions required that television stations allocate at least 10 percent of their broadcasting hours to news programming, 40 percent to cultural/educational programming, and 20 percent to entertainment programming. At the time of the imposition of these new regulations, the three networks broke new ground by successfully broadcasting the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The coverage of the 24th Olympiad was the product of technological prowess and resourceful use of manpower by the Korean broadcasting industry.

     Since the early 1980s, the structure of the Korean television industry has remained basically unchanged. The government ended the 27-year-long freeze on  new commercial licenses by granting a license to SBS-TV in 1990. This breakthrough paved the way  for competition between the public and the private networks.

     Another technological breakthrough took place in the beginning of the 1990s with the introduction of cable television. In 1990, the government initiated an experimental multichannel and multipurpose cable television service. In addition, Korea launched its first broadcasting/communication satellite, Mugungwha, to 36,000 kilometers above the equator in 1995. The development of an integrated broadband network is expected to take the form of B-ISDN immediately after the turn of the century.

Regulation of Broadcasting

     The aim of the latest Broadcasting Act, legislated on August 1, 1990, is to strive for the democratic formation of public opinion and improvement of national culture and to contribute to the promotion of broadcasting. The act consists of six chapters: (I) General provisions, (2) Operations of the Broadcasting Stations and Broadcasting Corporations, (3) The Broadcasting Commission, (4) Payment and Collection of the Television Reception Fee, (5) Matters to Be Observed by the Broadcasting Stations, and (6) Remedy for Infringement.

     In the article on the definition of terms, "broadcast" is defined as a transmission of wireless communication operated by a broadcast station for the purpose of propagating to the general public news, comments, and public opinion on politics, economy, society, culture, current events, education, music, entertainment, and so on. Accordingly, cable television is not subject to this act.

     Article 3 of the act states that (1) the freedom of broadcast programming shall be guaranteed, and (2) no person shall regulate or interfere with the programming or operation of a broadcasting station without complying with the conditions as prescribed by this act or other acts.

     Regarding the operation of broadcasting stations, it is prescribed that no person may hold stocks or quotas of the same broadcasting corporation, including stocks or quotas held by a person having a special relation, in excess of one-third of the total stocks or quotas.

     No broadcasting corporation may concurrently op­erate any daily newspaper or communication enterprise under the control of the Registration of Periodicals. Inflow of foreign capital is also prohibited. That is, no broadcasting corporation shall receive any financial contribution on the pretext of donation, patronage, or other form of foreign government or­ganization, except a contribution from a foreign organization having an objective of education, physical training, religion, charity, or other international friendship that is approved by the Minister of Information.

     Any person who has a television set in order to receive a television broadcast shall register the television set and pay the reception fee of 2,500 won (about U.S.$3) a month. Black-and-white television sets are not subject to the reception fee.

An Overview of Television Programming in Korea

     Currently, the four networks (KBS-1TV, KBS-2TV, MBC-TV, and SBS-TV) offer four hours of  daytime broadcasting beginning at 6:00 A. M., then resume broadcasting  from  5:30  P.M.  to   midnight.   There   is no broadcasting between 10 :00 A.M. and 5:30 P.M. on weekdays. However, the four networks operate an additional 7.5 hours on Saturday and Sunday.

     A typical programming schedule for Korean television networks begins at 6:00 A.M. with either a "brief news report" or a "foreign-language lesson" (English or Japanese). Early morning programs offer daily news, information, and cultural/educational programs. Each network begins its evening schedule at 5:30 P.M. with an afternoon news brief. followed by a time slot reserved  for network children's programming. After this, another news brief at 7:00 P.M. introduces prime time. The four networks fill the next three hours with programs ostensibly suitable for family viewing. including dramas. game shows. soap operas, variety shows. newsmagazines, situation comedies, occasional sports, and specials. Traditionally. networks also broadcast 40 to 50 minutes of "Nine O'clock News" during prime time. This news broadcast attracts many viewers and produces extremely high ratings. Over the course of the evening, each network also provides brief reports and sports news. Late­ evening hours are usually devoted to imported programs. dramas. movies. and talk shows. Weekend programming is similar to weekday programming except that it is designed to attract specific types of viewers who are demographically desirable to advertisers.

     In its early years. Korean television networks depended heavily on foreign imports, most from the United States. for their programming. Overall, imported programs averaged approximately one-third of the total programming hours in 1969. In 1983, 16 percent of programming originated outside the country. By 1987, imported programming had decreased to 10 percent. Though in March 1987 the networks did still broadcast programs such as Love Boat, Hawaii 5-0, Mission impossible, "Weekend American Movies," and cartoons.

     In addition to watching imported television programs on Korean television networks, many Koreans also watch AFKN-TV. which is an affiliate of the American Forces Radio and Television Service. the second largest of five networks managed by the Army Broadcasting Service. AFKN has been broadcasting for 39 years as an information and entertainment medium for 60,000 U.S. military personnel, civilian employees, and dependents. AFKN-TV also plays a significant role for many young Koreans. No one is quite sure of the size of the Korean "shadow audience" for AFKN -TV. However, it is watched by so many ordinary people that all Korean newspapers and most television guides carry AFKN-TV along with Korean program schedules.

     Research by Drs. Won-Yong Kim and Jong-keun Kang have mapped the "cultural outlook" of Korean television. Their sample includes all prime-time dramatic programming on three Korean television networks aired during 1990. It demonstrates that the world of Korean prime-time television significantly underrepresents children and adolescents. It grossly overrepresented adult groups. however-those who are between the ages of 20 and 39, who constitute one­ third of the Korean population. make up 56.7 percent of the fictional population. In sum, age distribution in the world of Korean television is bell shaped as compared to the diagonal line of the Korean population .

     Another significant difference between Korean prime-time drama and reality is that farmers and fishermen. who constitute 25 percent of the population, make up only 7.4 percent of television characters. Social class distribution among characters reveals that nearly half of all  television  characters appear  in the  "lower" part of a three-way classification.

     With regard to violence, among 49 characters who are involved in violence. 44.9 percent commit violence and 55.1 percent suffer it. Among them, most adult groups of both sexes are involved with violence . Children and adolescents of both sexes are never involved in violence, and young female adults are the most frequent victims in all age-groups.

     Although these findings show somewhat different patterns between Korea and other countries, they are not strictly comparable with each other because of the differences among their media systems.

The Korean Television Audience

     According to Media Service Korea, each household in Seoul has an average of 1.6 television sets. A poll conducted by KBS shows that Korean television viewers watch an average of a little over three hours on weekdays. 4.5 hours on Saturday. and about 5.5 hours on Sunday. When broken down by demographic information, men watch more television than women. On weekends, there were no differences in television viewing among age-groups.

     In terms of ratings, the most popular time slot is between the hours of 9:00 P. M. and 10:00 P.M., and the highest-rated program is the 9:00 P.M. evening news. Approximately 70 percent of the  adult  audience watches the news program every night. The second­ highest-rated time slot is between the hours of 7:00 A. M. and 8:00 A.M. The average ratings are 31 points on weekdays and 20 points on weekends.

     Korean adults frequently watch news and comedy programs. while teenagers watch comedy programs more frequently. and people in the 30-to-50 age-group watch the news more. Men tend to watch more sports, but women tend to watch soap operas and movies.

     In terms of information provided by audiences with reference to their stated uses and gratifications, the motive for watching television is most often described as intentions: "to get information" and "to understand other opinions and ways of life," "to get education and knowledge," and "to relax." Another study done by the KBS Broadcasting Culture Center indicates that many viewers considered watching television as a news­ providing function. Others thought of it as a "craving for refreshment," a "social relation function," or "identification." The motives for watching television news are cited variously as a way to "get information from around the world," a practice done "out of habit'' or with the intent "to listen to expert opinions and commentary." For soap operas, the stated reasons for viewing include "because they are interesting," "to kill time," and for some "they seem useful." People watch comedy "to alleviate stress" and "to have fun."

     Television ratings and audience viewing information is studied by most broadcasting companies as well as research firms, and in Korea ratings have been measured by diary and people meter. Currently, a people meter is generally used for gathering ratings, and Media Service Korea is engaged in the business of providing the people meter ratings.