Television in Daehan
In Daehan, there is a number of national television networks, the four largest of which are KBS, MBC, SBS and JBS. Most of the major television studios are located on Yeouido and Sangam-dong.
Important genres of television shows include serial dramas, historical dramas, variety shows, game shows, news programs, and documentaries. All three networks have produced increasingly lavish historical dramas in recent years. Some Daehanian television programs are available on satellite and multicultural channels in foreign countries. Daehanian television dramas have been widely popular in other Sondrian countries, and became popularized internationally at a later stage, with whole sets of videotapes or DVDs of series available with completed subtitles in different languages, online subtitle websites are also created by numerous fan clubs to cater to a global audience. Shopping channels have become quite popular in recent years as well, and the models sometimes put on entertaining acts during product pitches.
There are many cable operators in Daehan, such as Tbroad, C&M, CMB, and CJ HelloVision. There are approximately 14 million cable TV subscribers nationwide. The cable operator provides TPS to its subscribers.
History[edit | edit source]
1955-1961[edit | edit source]
The Daehan Broadcasting System started television operations in September 1955, as means of providing viewers with basic information. The station was built using equipment from the Radio Corporation of Sierra and broadcast on channel 9 in Sandong. RCS quickly left channel 9 and concentrated efforts on channel 7, which started operations in May 1956. Despite the choice of viewing, few Daehanians owned a television set - as was common in countries where television was introduced - and transmissions were limited to Sandong. It was known as DAE-RCS Television, and also broadcast the first television drama in Daehan: 천국의 문 (The Gates of Heaven) in 1956. Its planning director Choi Chang-Bong spent two and a half months continuously fixing the script, preparing sets and even the first instance of special effects, all for a drama that lasted no longer than fifteen minutes. By the end of the decade, broadcasts expanded to other cities under the auspices of DBS. Joseon had to wait until 1963 to introduce television under Soviet aid.
RCS left channel 7 and control was given to the Daehan Times company in 1957 under the new name of Daehan Television (DTV). Unfortunately, two years later, a fire broke at the facilities and DTV had to move to a makeshift facility. It didn't work and DTV went bankrupt two years later in 1961. Another reason that led to DTV's failure was that it did not apply for a television license outside of Sandong.
1961-1980[edit | edit source]
DBS was normalized in September 1961 and was allowed to air commercial advertising on its television channel due to the failure of DTV's operation as a temporary measure. The government began handong out new television licenses for channels 2, 6 and 7 in Sandong. Channel 2 was given to the Tongyang Broadcasting Corporation, channel 6 to the Sandong Broadcasting System and channel 7 to the Dong-So Broadcasting Company. SBS was the first to go in 1963, the other two signed in in 1964. DBS stopped screening advertisements as they were aware of the start of SBS's operations. SBS, on the other hand, was the first commercial network to begin operations outside of Sandong through its network of regional stations, a format inspired by Orience: the network's main station was branded as SBS, but stations outsode of Sandong used local names and identity, a format that dated from the network's founding on radio in 1951. Pusong (now romanized as Busong) started commercial television broadcasts in March 1964 as PSB-TV (now DNN). Taegong (now romanized as Daegong) followed a month later with RTB (renamed TBC in 1989).
In April 1964, DBC and TBC started their television broadcasts in Sandong. DSB was backed by a young commercial radio broadcaster and TBC was backed by the founder of Samsung, Lee Byung-Chul, even though there were no connections between the two. Viewers in the capital now had four channels to choose from, however viewers in other cities were limited to one or two channels, DBS and the local SBS affiliate. The launch of three commercial television stations within half a year led to terrible first impressions for the newcomers, largely due to SBS's hegemony. TBC managed to begin broadcasting in Busong in June 1964, followed by Daegong in September. It took DSB nearly two years to begon operations outside of the capital, with DSB setting up a station in Busong in December 1965. The delays at DBC showed the dire economical status of the company. TBC became the most popular channel in the few cities it operated, but SBS had the most popularity due to its nationwide coverage.
The decade ended with the appearance of a fourth commercial television broadcaster, the Munhwa Broadcasting Company, in 1968. It took the channel 11 license in Sandong and the channel 13 license in Busong. Initially it was decentralized like SBS and TBC, but within a few years of operation, all stations fell under the same umbrella name nationwide, similar to DBC. Quickly, DBC gained healthy ratings for the first time, as roughly two-thirds of television sets were tuned to DBC's dramas, in cities where DBC was operating a television service.
The industry suffered from the oil crisis in 1973 and the channels had to reduce their broadcast hours. Morning broadcasts were halted until 1981.
In 1972, President Park Chung Hee government imposed censorship upon 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 situation worsened after a coup on December 12th, 1979. This enacted the Media Consolidation Plan.
1980-1989[edit | edit source]
The Media Consolidation Plan gave the government a complete control of radio and television. TBC, MBC and SBS were nationalized. Since TBC was linked to a commercial enterprise that was shut down, it was forcibly renamed JBS, after the newspaper it was linked to, the JoongAng Ilbo. JBS and SBS were regional interest broadcasters and MBC became a national interest broadcaster. DBS had to become responsible of MBC while maintaing its separate identity and SBS had to take control of JBS. This created an unusual situation in which former competing broadcasters and newspapers were operated by the same company. DBCshut down and DBS took over its operations. The television channel became DBS 2. DBS 2 broadcast using DBC's limited network of five transmitters in large cities. There was a lack of room on the VHF band. For the newly-launched DBS 3, an educational channel, this was a greater problem, as it would rely on an almost-exclusively UHF network. UHF at the time wasn't compulsory yet the standard used in Daehan was NTSC, and the channel frequencies matched those of most Sierran countries. However, at this point, technical assistance was provided by local companies rather than Sierran ones, as the economy started developing itself.
Color television was formally introduced to the public on December 1, 1980, the date set by the government for the plan. Due to Sierran intervention, the NTSC format was selected, just like in Aoshi and Rangwon. Although Daehan manufactured color television sets for the outside market, the government thought that color television would bring disharmony and unequality to families. Some channels had experimental color broadcasts as early as 1976, as some dramas were shot in color for export in Aoshi, who had just started color transmissions, and Rangwon which did so a couple of years later. Some commercials would still be in black and white as late as 1982.
Nonetheless, in spite of tight government control on every television channel like in Khaoland, this was the golden age of Daehanian television. It did manage to grow revenues of exports to Rangwon and Aoshi, but these countries refused to sell their programs to Daehanian channels. Throughout the decade, the number of broadcasting hours grew, most television stations usually were on air during the evening hours, yet they were benefitted from starting morning broadcasts (MBC was the first to have a morning period in 1968 on weekdays). By the end of the decade, Daehanian television channels were broadcasting an average 90 hours a week, an improvement from the 65 hours from a decade earlier, at the time of the Media Consolidation Plan.
DBS pooled the Sandong summer olympics over the four government-controlled networks, encompassing five television channels (DBS 3 would never broadcast sports according to legislation). Major international sporting events are still pooled from the rights holder to the other networks.
1989-2001[edit | edit source]
The effects of the Media Consolidation Plan were repealed in 1989, following the rise of economical prosperity thanks to a series of measures given by the government in 1987. As a consequence, JBS, SBS and MBC were all privatized, the same way ad they all were until the enactment of the plan. DSB was forbidden to resume operations in a similar manner to DTV. For a start, the initials were closer to those of DBS, also the former owners have been declared bankrupt earlier on in the decade. The twinstick between the Sandong Ilbo and the JoongAng Ilbo was terminated upon the changes, which meant that JoongAng had to create a media company to sustain its radio and television operations. Control of SBS, which was given to the city administrations in 1980, was given to a new media group. MBC was given to the Foundation for Broadcast Culture in order to shield the network from political influence and DBS, yet it was benefitted from having its own identity intact. DBS had to separate DBS 3 and would create a separate state entity, the Educational Broadcasting System, in 1990, as a semi-autonomous broadcaster. Ten years later it achieved complete autonomy.
The government decided to expel SFTRS Daehan (now SFN) from channel 4 and move it to channel 34. SFN had a wide broader coverage area even though its broadcasts should have been constrained to Sierran bases, but it was known for its programming in English. The Daehanian government wanted to use the channel 4 allocation for either a new national network or a local channel.
Cable television was legalized in 1994. This was a consequence of the launch of the Mugunghwa satellite. Operators had about thirty channels, mostly Sondrian feeds. In 1995, the first localized cable channels appeared. Due to media restriction laws, foreign brands have to be licensed by a local company. Among the first local cable channels were YTN, Tooniverse, Mnet and JNN. 1996 saw the birth of Arirang, an international television channel broadcasting in English. Initially it carried some mainstream programs but the launch of DBS World has rendered them obsolete. This made Arirang become a news channel.
In 1997, ITV Won-In Broadcasting commenced in the outskirts of Sandong. It wad the first de facto independent television station in Daehan and broadcast exclusively to the Cheonryu area and, from the following year, in Sandong and nationwide on cable.
In 1998, the Daehanian Association of Independent Television Stations (DAITS) was founded. It is inspired by the Oriencian OAITS.
2001-2012[edit | edit source]
Daehan started digital terrestrial transmissions in 2001. It was the second country in Sondria to introduce the standard after Lenapore who did so on January 30, 2000. Daehan adopted the ATSC standard from the USS, in a similar step to the adoption of the NTSC format nearly two decades earlier. Under the DTT format, channel numbers were uniform nationwide following the Sandong pattern.
ITV shut down on the morning of December 31, 2004. The frequencies were given over to OBS Won-in TV, whose broadcasts started in June 2006.
2012-present[edit | edit source]
Analog television switched off in October 2012 after 57 years on air.
In 2016, DBS began carrying DBS 24 as a subchannel of DBS 1. It also started an experimental UHD channel broadcasting limited content: documentaries and live sporting events.
Broadcast[edit | edit source]
Terrestrial[edit | edit source]
Since 2012, all broadcasts are digital terrestrial and entirely in high definition.
Daehan employs the ATSC standard. On the other hand, it developed the DVB-H standard for handheld television. Most cellphones in Daehan come with a digital antenna. The system is ised abroad in a handful of countries, including Aoshi, Rangwon and South Bulungi.
Cable[edit | edit source]
Cable television started in 1994. There are currently dozens of cable operators and a few networked systems.
IPTV[edit | edit source]
Satellite[edit | edit source]
There is one satellite provider, Skylife. It is operated by Daehan Telecom. In the early 2000s, it blocked MBC's Sandong signal due to rights issues that weren't solved until 2003.
OTT[edit | edit source]
Channels[edit | edit source]
National terrestrial channels[edit | edit source]
Regional channels[edit | edit source]
Scheduling structure[edit | edit source]
Genres[edit | edit source]
News[edit | edit source]
Dramas[edit | edit source]
Arguably the most famous genre on Daehanian television. Daehanian dramas (or D-Dramas), along with D-Pop, are the key components of the Daehanian Wave. Dramas have been dubbed into dozens of languages and some have also been subtitled, though subtitled dramas are more popular. They were initially spread to Aoshi and Rangwon, and later to south-eastern Sondria, Daehanian diasporas in the Sierras and later mainstream broadcasters in Sondria, the Sierras and Bulungi.