ID :
190789
Fri, 06/24/2011 - 03:56
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/190789
The shortlink copeid
Korea factor plays big in what games Koreans choose to watch on TV
(Yonhap Feature) By John Duerden
Contributing Writer
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea's big three national broadcasters, KBS, SBS and MBC, have huge influence on all aspects of daily Korean life, and sport is no exception. The battle between the three to attract sports viewers is growing fiercer in a lucrative, competitive market.
One thing broadcasters can agree on is that the average Korean television viewer is more interested in watching compatriots compete on the world stage than watching the game.
"Koreans are unusual in their sports viewing habits," said Baek Jung-hyun, producer and director of sports at KBS, the nation's publicly funded network.
"National feeling is the most important aspect of sports coverage. There are five great events in Korean sports broadcasting: The World Cup, World Cup qualifiers for the Korean national team, Olympic Games, baseball playoffs and (female figure skater) Kim Yu-na."
"The special characteristic of the Korean television viewer is that almost every Korean cares more about how the Korean players on view are playing than how the game is going. Koreans love to watch Manchester United with Park Ji-sung but don't care so much about the team without Park."
The statistics support such a claim. When Park appears in the English Premier League, ratings are much higher than when he is not in the starting line-up, according to Kim Kyung-soo, the senior producer of SBS Sports programming.
"If Park plays in the Premier League, the rating is about 2-3 percent (around 1-1.5 million viewers), if the timing is good," said Kim. "If he doesn't play then Manchester United games get about 1 percent, sometimes less."
It was a lot more when Park played for the English powerhouse in the UEFA Champions League final against Barcelona on May 28. Manchester United lost but SBS won.
"It was a major success," said Kim. "We showed the final on SBS terrestrial, the first time that a Korean terrestrial broadcaster showed a Champions League match live. It was 3:45 a.m. but the rating was 6.5 percent."
Broadcasters are also aware that their coverage should be supportive of Korean players and Korean teams even if they are not doing well.
Baek of KBS recalled watching a BBC broadcast during a 2010 World Cup game between England and Germany and the pundits being very critical of the performance of the English national team.
"Such a thing would not happen in Korea," said Baek. "Pundits would be encouraging of the performance. Even if the team was losing, commentators would talk about how the team could recover."
Sometimes, the coverage has been accused of being too encouraging. SBS's commentary was criticized for being over-enthusiastic in some quarters during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, especially during the short-track events.
"It is a sensitive issue," admits Kim of SBS. "We have workshops and meetings before these events and communicate how we will broadcast and what our philosophy is. During a live event, if a commentator is going crazy, we can talk to them and tell them to calm down but if he doesn't listen, then there is not much we can do. If it is not dangerous, it can be healthy. The Olympics are country-versus-country, after all."
Baek of KBS was fairly clear about the differences that viewers can expect when watching a KBS broadcast compared to something from commercial rivals MBC or SBS.
"Like the BBC, we are more interested in the traditional aspects of sports broadcasting. We want to create a good environment for viewers, and we want to produce high-quality programs. MBC and SBS are commercial broadcasters and if something is good for them commercially, they can do almost anything. For example, during the 2008 Olympics, SBS/MBC had comedians from 'Muhan Dojeon' (a popular Korean entertainment show) commentating on events such as gymnastics. We would never do that," he said.
The whole philosophy behind KBS is different.
"At MBC, we don't have a responsibility to develop sports," said MBC commentator Seo Hyung-wook. "Realistically, that is the role of KBS."
Such a responsibility obligates KBS to broadcast more unfashionable sports.
"We have a responsibility," said Baek of KBS. "We are not commercial; we are like the BBC. We receive a license fee from the people."
The fee is 2,500 won (US$2.30) a month per household and it enables the broadcaster to take a wider view of the sports market.
"We have to promote a variety of sports. The big international soccer games or the professional baseball league don't really need our help but there are plenty of sports that do," Baek said.
"We cover things like wrestling, handball and volleyball. In Korea, they are not professional but the quality is high and the players often win medals at the Olympic Games. These get low ratings but we don't care about that. They need our help in order to compete. If we cover these sports, then sponsors are interested; without our coverage, there are no sponsors," he said.
You may think that with soccer being high on the list, soccer would dominate the terrestrial channels as well as the extensive cable market -- over 70 percent of households subscribe to cable television -- but that is not the case. When it comes to team games in the domestic market, baseball is No. 1.
Part of this is commercial. Soccer is a notoriously poor sport for advertisers with two 45-minute blocks of non-stop action.
"Advertisers prefer baseball," said the MBC commentator Seo. "They can broadcast their commercials at least 17 times
in total due to the break between innings."
In contrast, Baek of KBS states that Koreans who watch soccer are much less tolerant of commercials especially prior to kick-off, a time when many European broadcasters squeeze in a quick advert. Kim at SBS agrees, saying that Korean baseball viewers are accustomed to commercials and don't change channels.
Challenges remain for sports broadcasters with the growth of more cable sports channels and the rise of new media. The big three have to constantly strive to be at the forefront of Korean sports television, as Kim of SBS explains.
"We have three cable sports channels -- SBS ESPN, MBC Sports Plus and KBS N -- but I think that all of them are in the red. It's hard to make money in sports broadcasting. The biggest problem is that the Korean sports-and-commercial market is not yet mature. The commercial money available is fixed but there are many broadcasters. If there are more broadcasters, the market doesn't expand, so more broadcasters have to share the same amount of money.
"Broadcasting is changing. These days, people watch highlights on the Internet. It could be a problem or opportunity for us. As a general broadcaster, we have to expand to new platforms. We have our own Internet platform and more cable channels and DMB. As technology is developing, we have to develop, too."
As well as technological changes, Baek of KBS would like to see more focus on sporting events that don't involve Korea but accepts that the competitive nature of the marketplace means that will have to wait.
"If I could change one thing at KBS, then I would say that we would like to be more adventurous in the sports that we cover. I would like to cover UEFA Champions League matches on terrestrial television, the Super Bowl, the NBA finals, Euro 2012 and others. At the moment, however, it is very difficult to do that. The Korean economy is uncertain at the moment, and that extends to broadcasting, too. So that means that we have to focus on the national aspects of sports," he said.
Contributing Writer
SEOUL (Yonhap) - South Korea's big three national broadcasters, KBS, SBS and MBC, have huge influence on all aspects of daily Korean life, and sport is no exception. The battle between the three to attract sports viewers is growing fiercer in a lucrative, competitive market.
One thing broadcasters can agree on is that the average Korean television viewer is more interested in watching compatriots compete on the world stage than watching the game.
"Koreans are unusual in their sports viewing habits," said Baek Jung-hyun, producer and director of sports at KBS, the nation's publicly funded network.
"National feeling is the most important aspect of sports coverage. There are five great events in Korean sports broadcasting: The World Cup, World Cup qualifiers for the Korean national team, Olympic Games, baseball playoffs and (female figure skater) Kim Yu-na."
"The special characteristic of the Korean television viewer is that almost every Korean cares more about how the Korean players on view are playing than how the game is going. Koreans love to watch Manchester United with Park Ji-sung but don't care so much about the team without Park."
The statistics support such a claim. When Park appears in the English Premier League, ratings are much higher than when he is not in the starting line-up, according to Kim Kyung-soo, the senior producer of SBS Sports programming.
"If Park plays in the Premier League, the rating is about 2-3 percent (around 1-1.5 million viewers), if the timing is good," said Kim. "If he doesn't play then Manchester United games get about 1 percent, sometimes less."
It was a lot more when Park played for the English powerhouse in the UEFA Champions League final against Barcelona on May 28. Manchester United lost but SBS won.
"It was a major success," said Kim. "We showed the final on SBS terrestrial, the first time that a Korean terrestrial broadcaster showed a Champions League match live. It was 3:45 a.m. but the rating was 6.5 percent."
Broadcasters are also aware that their coverage should be supportive of Korean players and Korean teams even if they are not doing well.
Baek of KBS recalled watching a BBC broadcast during a 2010 World Cup game between England and Germany and the pundits being very critical of the performance of the English national team.
"Such a thing would not happen in Korea," said Baek. "Pundits would be encouraging of the performance. Even if the team was losing, commentators would talk about how the team could recover."
Sometimes, the coverage has been accused of being too encouraging. SBS's commentary was criticized for being over-enthusiastic in some quarters during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, especially during the short-track events.
"It is a sensitive issue," admits Kim of SBS. "We have workshops and meetings before these events and communicate how we will broadcast and what our philosophy is. During a live event, if a commentator is going crazy, we can talk to them and tell them to calm down but if he doesn't listen, then there is not much we can do. If it is not dangerous, it can be healthy. The Olympics are country-versus-country, after all."
Baek of KBS was fairly clear about the differences that viewers can expect when watching a KBS broadcast compared to something from commercial rivals MBC or SBS.
"Like the BBC, we are more interested in the traditional aspects of sports broadcasting. We want to create a good environment for viewers, and we want to produce high-quality programs. MBC and SBS are commercial broadcasters and if something is good for them commercially, they can do almost anything. For example, during the 2008 Olympics, SBS/MBC had comedians from 'Muhan Dojeon' (a popular Korean entertainment show) commentating on events such as gymnastics. We would never do that," he said.
The whole philosophy behind KBS is different.
"At MBC, we don't have a responsibility to develop sports," said MBC commentator Seo Hyung-wook. "Realistically, that is the role of KBS."
Such a responsibility obligates KBS to broadcast more unfashionable sports.
"We have a responsibility," said Baek of KBS. "We are not commercial; we are like the BBC. We receive a license fee from the people."
The fee is 2,500 won (US$2.30) a month per household and it enables the broadcaster to take a wider view of the sports market.
"We have to promote a variety of sports. The big international soccer games or the professional baseball league don't really need our help but there are plenty of sports that do," Baek said.
"We cover things like wrestling, handball and volleyball. In Korea, they are not professional but the quality is high and the players often win medals at the Olympic Games. These get low ratings but we don't care about that. They need our help in order to compete. If we cover these sports, then sponsors are interested; without our coverage, there are no sponsors," he said.
You may think that with soccer being high on the list, soccer would dominate the terrestrial channels as well as the extensive cable market -- over 70 percent of households subscribe to cable television -- but that is not the case. When it comes to team games in the domestic market, baseball is No. 1.
Part of this is commercial. Soccer is a notoriously poor sport for advertisers with two 45-minute blocks of non-stop action.
"Advertisers prefer baseball," said the MBC commentator Seo. "They can broadcast their commercials at least 17 times
in total due to the break between innings."
In contrast, Baek of KBS states that Koreans who watch soccer are much less tolerant of commercials especially prior to kick-off, a time when many European broadcasters squeeze in a quick advert. Kim at SBS agrees, saying that Korean baseball viewers are accustomed to commercials and don't change channels.
Challenges remain for sports broadcasters with the growth of more cable sports channels and the rise of new media. The big three have to constantly strive to be at the forefront of Korean sports television, as Kim of SBS explains.
"We have three cable sports channels -- SBS ESPN, MBC Sports Plus and KBS N -- but I think that all of them are in the red. It's hard to make money in sports broadcasting. The biggest problem is that the Korean sports-and-commercial market is not yet mature. The commercial money available is fixed but there are many broadcasters. If there are more broadcasters, the market doesn't expand, so more broadcasters have to share the same amount of money.
"Broadcasting is changing. These days, people watch highlights on the Internet. It could be a problem or opportunity for us. As a general broadcaster, we have to expand to new platforms. We have our own Internet platform and more cable channels and DMB. As technology is developing, we have to develop, too."
As well as technological changes, Baek of KBS would like to see more focus on sporting events that don't involve Korea but accepts that the competitive nature of the marketplace means that will have to wait.
"If I could change one thing at KBS, then I would say that we would like to be more adventurous in the sports that we cover. I would like to cover UEFA Champions League matches on terrestrial television, the Super Bowl, the NBA finals, Euro 2012 and others. At the moment, however, it is very difficult to do that. The Korean economy is uncertain at the moment, and that extends to broadcasting, too. So that means that we have to focus on the national aspects of sports," he said.
