Media: Society: News: Hankyoreh Mobile

‘The second part will be broadcast soon.’ These are broadcast subtitles that are already familiar to terrestrial TV viewers. It is because it appears in various popular programs such as drama (KBS) and entertainment (SBS). In this way, with terrestrial broadcasters actually doing interim advertisements, how should we understand the situation in which articles titled’terrestrial interim advertisements allowed after 48 years’ have been poured out? On the 31st of last month, the Korea Communications Commission (Korea Communications Commission) held a plenary meeting and decided on the’Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Broadcasting Act’, which included the same application of restrictions on the total amount of interim advertisements and advertisement time to terrestrial and general broadcasting channels (vertical). . Although there are still procedures for review by the Ministry of Legislation and resolution of the Vice Minister and the State Council, it is the first time that the government in charge has reached a final decision since the government banned terrestrial interim advertisements in 1973. The’controversy over the allowance of terrestrial intermediary advertisements’, which has been around for over 20 years since the early 2000s, has put its end point at hand.

Since the early 2000s, when the ratio of cable and online media in the advertising market began to increase, terrestrial broadcasters have been constantly demanding deregulation, such as allowing interim advertising and advertising total volume. The government also tried to deregulate several times, but civic groups and newspapers protested against it, saying that “it infringes on the right to view and undermines the balanced development of the media,” and it collapsed every time. Since the mid-2010s, terrestrial broadcasters have taken action, not just demanding and insisting on deregulation as their audience share has fallen to around 50% and has been pushed back in the advertising market. After dividing one program into two or three parts, it devised a “separately organized advertisement,” aka PCM (premium advertisement), in which advertisements were inserted between them. PCM, which started as a popular entertainment and drama, has expanded to not only current affairs culture but also signboard news programs. While viewers and media groups criticized the PCM as a’mischief and expedient intermediary advertisement’, the Korea Communications Commission, a regulatory body, did not take any action on the grounds that it was “not in violation of the current law.” However, as the audience rating of the drama, which started with’Separate Part 2’last year, increased, it changed to’Split Part 3’in the middle of the airing and sent out advertisements every 21 minutes on average, increasing viewer complaints. Only then, when the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), which was engaged in’intensive monitoring’, grasped the current situation, it was revealed that not only terrestrial broadcasters but also (tvN), whose interim advertisement was’legal’, had introduced PCM. For example, TV Chosun split into two copies and sent out PCM for 180 seconds separately from the three interim advertisements. Intermediate advertisements have a regulation of’within 60 seconds at a time’, but PCM is aiming for the gap that there is no legal regulation. In the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Broadcasting Act, which was decided last month, the Korea Communications Commission absorbed PCM, which had been in the’regulatory blind spot’, as an interim advertisement regulatory framework.

Even if terrestrial intermediary advertisements are officially allowed, is it merely’maintaining the status quo’ from the perspective of viewers because similar interim advertisements have already been made? Not like that. This is because terrestrial advertising time restrictions have also been eased. Previously, the maximum advertising time per program programming hour was not exceeded 15/100 (9 minutes per hour), which is a maximum of 20/100 (12 minutes per hour). Regulations that did not exceed 15/100 per hour (9 minutes per hour) on average have been relaxed to 17/100 (10 minutes and 12 seconds per hour). This is the same applies to terrestrial broadcasts of regulations that were previously applied to pay broadcasts such as full-time broadcasts. Virtual and indirect advertisements can now be performed equally for terrestrial and pay-per-view broadcasts, as much as 7/100 of the time of the broadcast program. Accordingly, it is expected that the overall number of advertisements that viewers must watch inside and outside the program will increase. Citizens’ groups of viewers and media are criticizing the KCC’s’post-regulation’ policy and urged to prepare countermeasures. Seok-Hyun Han, director of the Seoul YMCA’s Viewers Citizen Movement Headquarters, said, “Even though the KCC is obligated to protect viewers, it is said that the’viewer impact assessment’ is carried out more than half a year after the regulation has been released. “It is difficult to understand why, despite the case of PCM aiming at a regulatory loophole, it is difficult to understand the reason for relying only on the autonomy of operators without taking measures to minimize the infringement of viewing rights in advance.” He added, “At least, we must take preemptive measures to regulate genre of children’s and youth programs and news, so that damage can be minimized. It will have to be prepared in detail.” On the one hand, there is also an argument that broadcasters such as terrestrial, vertical, and cable should voluntarily strengthen’transparency’ related to advertisements. Professor Hong Won-shik of Dongduk Women’s University Liberal Arts College said, “The government-centered regulatory system has reached its limit.” It is better to induce it.” There are also voices that there is an urgent need to regulate advertising that covers not only broadcasting but also online. Kim Dong-chan, Secretary General of the Citizens’ Solidarity for Media Reform, said, “As new audiovisual media service providers such as YouTube and Netflix emerged, competition is intensifying. As’live commerce’ (real-time internet shopping broadcasting) is popping up, TV home shopping operators will also demand deregulation, and it is necessary to revise the entire advertising regulation system covering the digital domain as well as existing broadcasters. By Kim Hyo-sil, staff reporter [email protected]