Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation

Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC; ) is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. Its flagship terrestrial television station MBC TV broadcasts as channel 11, while MBC News Now broadcasts as channel 12.

Established on 2 December 1961, MBC's terrestrial operations have a nationwide network of 17 regional stations. Although financed by advertising, MBC is classified as a public broadcaster, as its largest shareholder is a public organization, the Foundation of Broadcast Culture. MBC is a multimedia group with one terrestrial TV channel, three radio channels, five cable channels, five satellite channels and four DMB channels.

Headquartered in Digital Media City (DMC), Mapo District, Seoul, MBC has the largest broadcast production facilities in Korea, including a digital production centre, Dream Center, in Ilsan, indoor and outdoor sets in Yongin Daejanggeum Park.

History

Radio era (1961–1968)

Broadcasting from Seoul (call sign: HLKV, frequency: 900 kHz, output: 10 kW), MBC started as the first non-governmental commercial broadcaster in Korea. On 12 April 1963, it obtained a license from the government for operating regional stations in major cities (Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, Jeonju) in Korea and established a broadcast network which connects six cities including Seoul and Busan.

Black and white TV era (1969–1979)

MBC launched TV broadcasting on 8 August 1969 (call sign: HLAC-TV, output: 2 kW), and started to broadcast its main news program, MBC Newsdesk, on 5 October 1970. It reached an affiliation deal with 7 commercial stations (in Ulsan, Jinju, Gangnueng, Chuncheon, Mokpo, Jeju, Masan) between 1968 and 1969, and started nationwide TV broadcasting through its 13 affiliated or regional stations. In 1974, FM radio was launched, and MBC took over Kyunghyang Shinmun, a daily newspaper.

Colour TV era (1980–1989)

On 11 December 1980, the Korean Broadcasting System acquired 65% of the shares. The first colour TV broadcast was started on 22 December 1980. MBC was separated from the Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper due to the 1981 Basic Press Act. In 1982, MBC moved into the Yeouido headquarters. That same year, the network founded its baseball team, MBC Cheong-ryong (Blue Dragon), which entered the KBO League as a charter team, in addition to the network being the first home of the league's TV broadcasts. With the live coverage of the 1986 Seoul Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, MBC made a great advancement in scale and technology.

Ownership of the Blue Dragon baseball team was passed to LG Corporation in 1989.

Multimedia era (1990–1999)

After rapidly growing into a large corporation covering major international events, MBC established specialized companies for each value chain (MBC Production, MBC Media Tech, MBC Broadcast Culture Center, MBC Arts Company, MBC Arts Center) and spun them off as subsidiaries to become a more efficient corporation amid fiercer competition in the multimedia era. MBC Production and MBC Media Tech were merged into MBC C&I in August 2011.

Digital era (2000–present)

In 2000, MBC made its subsidiary iMBC (internet MBC) an independent corporation to pursue various internet-related business. Furthermore, it started cable TV (MBC Plus Media,) satellite TV, new DMB broadcasting and full daytime broadcasting on terrestrial television. In 2007, MBC established Ilsan Dream Center, a digital production centre. In September 2014, it completed the construction of a new headquarters building and moved from Yeouido to Sangam-dong.

In 2001, MBC launched satellite and cable television broadcasting. As part of this expansion, it created MBC America, a subsidiary based in Los Angeles, United States, to distribute its programming throughout the Americas. On 1 August 2008, MBC America launched MBC-D, a television network carried on the digital subchannels of KSCI-TV, KTSF-TV, and WMBC-TV. The service was planned to be launched in Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. by the end of the year. In northeast metro Atlanta, it aired on WKTB-CD channel 47.3 (now a Telemundo affiliate), but as of 2011 is on WSKC-CD channel 22.1.

In March 2013, computer shutdowns hit South Korean television stations, including MBC. The South Korean government asserted a North Korean link in the March cyberattacks, which has been denied by Pyongyang.

During the opening of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, MBC accidentally depicted stereotypes about specific countries like Italy for pizzas.

International relations

MBC is an active member of international organizations such as ABU (Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union), IATAS (International Academy of Television Arts & Science) and INPUT (International Public Television Screening Conference), and is affiliated with 21 broadcasters in 13 countries.

It is engaged in various global businesses through subsidiaries in Los Angeles and Shanghai, and bureaus in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, as well as Asia, in close cooperation with major global media groups.

It maintains a close relationship with foreign buyers by participating in major content markets every year, such as MIP-TV, MIPCOM, NATPE, BCWW and ATF. It also operates an English website that introduces MBC content to overseas buyers and viewers.

MBC drama What on Earth Is Love? was the first Korean Wave drama, sparking the K-drama boom across China when it was aired on CCTV in 1997. Since then, numerous MBC dramas, entertainment shows, and documentaries have been exported to different countries. The drama Dae Jang Geum was shown in as many as 91 countries around the world. More recently, MBC has been widening its content business by exporting show formats such as I Am a Singer, We Got Married and Dad! Where Are We Going?.

CEOs TermNamePeriodBackground1st to 3rdKim Ji-tae21 February 1961 – 22 July 19624thGo Won-jeung22 July 1962 – 26 August 19645thHwang Yong-ju26 August 1964 – 15 December 19646th to 8thJo Jeung-chul15 December 1964 – 30 June 19719th to 12thLee Hwan-ui30 June 1971 – 20 June 1980ActingIm Taek-geun20 June 1980 – 5 July 198013thLee Jin-hee5 July 1980 – 7 June 1982Reporter14th to 15thLee Woong-hee7 June 1982 – 17 February 1986Reporter16thHwang Seon-pil17 February 1986 – 29 August 1988ActingShin Jeong-hyu29 August 1988 – 2 November 198817thKim Young-su2 November 1988 – 10 February 198918th to 19thChoi Chang-bong10 February 1989 – 12 March 1993Producer20th to 21stKang Seong-gu17 March 1993 – 14 June 1996ReporterActingPyeon Il-pyeong14 June 1996 – 22 July 199622ndLee Deuk-ryeol22 July 1996 – 8 March 1999Reporter23rdNo Seong-dae9 March 1999 – 9 March 2001Reporter24th to 25thKim Joong-bae9 March 2001 – 2 March 2003Reporter26thLee Geung-hee3 March 2003 – 25 February 2005Producer27thChoi Moon-soon25 February 2005 – 28 February 2008Reporter28thEom Gi-young29 February 2008 – 8 February 2010Reporter29th 30thKim Jae-chul26 February 2010 – 26 March 2013ReporterActingAhn Gwang-han26 March 2013 – 3 May 201331stKim Jong-guk3 May 2013 – 24 February 2014Reporter32ndAhn Gwang-han25 February 2014 – 24 February 2017Producer33rdKim Jang-gyeom25 February 2017 – 13 November 2017ReporterActingChoi Ki-hwa14 November 2017 – 7 December 201734thChoi Seung-ho7 December 2017 – 23 February 2020Producer35thPark Seong-je24 February 2020 – 23 February 2023Reporter36thAhn Hyung-joon24 February 2023 – 14 September 2026Reporter37thLee Seong-ju14 September 2026 – presentManaging Director of iMBC

Channels One terrestrial TV (MBC TV—channel 11ㆍMBC News Now—channel 12) Three radio stations: Name Frequency Power (kW) MBC Standard FM 95.9 MHz FM />10 kW (FM) MBC FM4U 91.9 MHz FM 10 kW Channel M CH 12A DAB 2 kW Five cable/satellite (MBC Drama, MBC Sports+, MBC M, MBC every1 and MBC ON) Three terrestrial DMB (TV, radio, data) Two satellite DMB (MBC Drama, MBC Sports+) MBC Voice Acting Division (), a voice acting company known for its work on movies, anime, documentaries, among other media.

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Headquarters

Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation

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