Seoul – The Korean government has announced its decision to lift a decades-long ban on late-night broadcasting of terrestrial television broadcasters including KBS, MBC and SBS. This ruling, which will come into effect from October, will allow FTA broadcasters to offer a 24-hour service.
The decision was made during a plenary session of the Korea Communications Commission, which oversees the government’s broadcasting policies, according to the commission. This move aims to place the country’s FTA channels on an equal footing with cable TV channels.
At present, terrestrial stations are allowed to air programmes for 19 hours a day, starting from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. the next day. This is the first time FTA channels will be allowed to stay on-air for an entire day since TV broadcasting began in South Korea in 1961.
According to the commission, KBS 1TV will be the first channel to begin a 24-hour service.