Saturday, July 20, 2019


Article: KBS: 100 billion deficit expected → 'emergency' management plan ... Notice of program terminations

Source: SPOTV News via Nate

KBS is projected to incur massive losses up to 100 billion won (~$85,000,000) in 2019.

As a result, the company has created an internal task force that developed an "Emergency Management Plan (the "Plan")' in order to improve the deficit. According to the plan, the company is expecting business losses of 101.9 billion won (~$87,000,000) with cumulative losses of 656.9 billion won (~$559,000,000) within the next five years. In the second half of 2020, the company will need to rely on bank borrowings to stay afloat.

In order to improve the deficit, the 'plan' details a renewed emphasis on efficiencies in production, finance and human resource management. As a result, program terminations are inevitable.

Among programs to be terminated are: 'KBS24, 'Morning News Time', 'Yeo Yoo Man', 'Baduk Wang Jeon'. Four programs 'Current Affairs', 'In-depth 60 minutes', 'KBS Special' and 'Global Documentary will reportedly be integrated [consolidated].

As for dramas, the company is planning to shorten drama broadcast time by 20 minutes going from 70 to 50 minutes. They're still discussing whether to terminate or change format of current program 'Drama Special.' The company also discussed terminating 'Kim Jae-dong Tonight' but no formal cancellations were confirmed. But on the 17th, KBS Public Broadcasters Union announced that "Kim Jae-dong has expressed his intentions to leave the program." Kim Jae Dong's side also confirmed the news.

In the media sector, the company plans to reduce the number of correspondents by 20% and sports broadcasters will be kept based on profitability.

Overall, the 'Emergency Plan' when implemented, will improve the deficit by almost 60 billion won (~$51,000,000).

When the plan was first revealed, there was a lot of criticism and concern internally. On the 17th, KBS Trade Union stated, "Because of management's failure, the workers are forced to sacrifice and take responsibility. The Board of Directors (executives) need to take responsibility for management's failures and step down."

KBS media union headquarters also issued a statement and said, "We recognize the crisis at KBS, but at the same time, if the issue is due to the executive's incompetence, laziness, and lack of desire to reform, we won't be remaining idle."

Stay tuned for updates.