Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation

History

▲ Radio era (1961-1968)

Launching the first radio broadcast signal (call sign: HLKV, frequency: 900 kHz, output: 10 kW) from Seoul, MBC started as the first non-governmental commercial broadcaster in Korea. On April 12, 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 6 cities including Seoul and Busan.

▲ Black & White TV era (1969-1979)

MBC launched TV broadcasting on August 8, 1969 (call sign: HLAC-TV, output: 2 kW), and started to broadcast its main news program MBC Newsdesk on October 5, 1970. It reached 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, as MBC took over The Kyunghyang Shinmun (daily newspaper company).

▲ Color TV Era (1980-1990)

The first color TV broadcasting was started in December, 1980. MBC was separated from The Kyunghyang Shinmun according to the 1981 Basic Press Act. In 1982, it moved into the Yoido headquarters and founded professional baseball team MBC Cheong-ryong (Blue Dragon). 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.

▲ Multimedia Era (1991-2000)

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 spined 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 (2001–present)

As the convergence of broadcasting and communications becomes full-fledged, MBC made its subsidiary iMBC (internet MBC) an independent corporation and pursued various internet-related business. Furthermore, it started cable TV (MBC Plus Media,) satellite TV and new DMB broadcasting. In 2007, MBC established digital production center Ilsan Dream Center, which is equipped with high-tech production facilities. In September 2014, it competed the construction of new headquarters building and moved from Yoido to Sangam-dong, opening a new era of Sangam MBC.

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 August 1, 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, but as of 2011 is on WSKC-CD channel 22.1.

Chronological history

International relations

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

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

MBC is devoted to entering foreign markets and expanding the business area. 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. In addition, it operates an English web site which introduces various MBC content to the oversears buyers and viewers so that they can easily access its content.

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

MBC channels

Drama

MBC dramas are exported to 100 countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas. Dae Jang Geum has high audience ratings in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong; its popularity has continued in 91 countries, including Japan. Other dramas that have enjoyed high viewership include Jumong, Coffee Prince, Moon Embracing the Sun, Yi San, Queen Seondeok, and Dong Yi.

Entertainment

MBC's reality program Infinite Challenge has enjoyed high ratings for nine consecutive years. The comedians hosting Exclamation! (which ended its run in 2007) have promoted reading, reuniting foreign workers in South Korea with their families and providing medical help to the elderly.

Current affairs and documentaries

MBC documentaries encompass a wide range of issues, from foreign affairs to the environment. PD Notebook premiered in 1990, and has since earned notoriety for its investigations from a journalistic standpoint. Episodes have included one covering scientific fraud by Korean geneticist Hwang Woo-Suk, and another containing arguments against importing US beef. The latter episode, entitled "Is American Beef Really Safe from Mad Cow Disease?", contributed to three months of protest in Seoul against importing US beef. Since then, the accuracy of the episode and the program's method of obtaining information has been questioned. MBC current-affairs and documentary programs have won recognition from the New York and Banff TV Festivals, the Asian TV Awards, ABU Prizes, Earth Vision and the Japan Wildlife Festival.

News and sports

MBC News now has 18 local news bureaus and 8 overseas news bureaus, with which it signed a news supply contract with CNN, APTN, NBC and Reuters TV so it can bring up to date news to viewers. MBC currently offers a wide variety of in-depth analysis programs on politics, economy, society and culture through Current Affairs Magazine 2580, 100 Minute Debate, Economy Magazine M, and Unification Observatory. MBC also broadcasts Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Texas Rangers games when Hyun-Jin Ryu pitches and Shin-Soo Choo and Jung-ho Kang bat.

International awards

The following are some of the international awards MBC TV programs have received between 2013 and the first half of 2014.

▲ 2014

▲ 2013

▲ 2012

Music Core chart winner mix-up

On April 20, 2013, MBC introduced a brand new ranking system for Music Core, and as such had nominated INFINITE, K.Will, Davichi, and Lee Hi for the first place award. Singer K.Will was mistakenly announced as the winner. He looked confused as if he couldn’t believe it, and as he was about to say his thanks, when the Show! Music Core staff quickly informed everyone on stage that there had been a mistake and that INFINITE were the actual winners. K.Will was quick to laugh it off and say, "It's okay, I’m okay." He even shouted, "I love INFINITE!" However, the INFINITE members themselves looked unsure and confused about accepting the trophy.

Afterwards, the staff of the show was highly criticized by viewers. The staff made a statement on their official board and said,

"This is the ‘Show! Music Core’ staff. There was a mistake in announcing the 1st-place winner on the April 20 broadcast. This was a mistake because the text votes were mixed up for the two 1st place nominees. The two team's scores are 100% fair results. The text votes accumulation company has promised to work harder to keep this from happening again. Please excuse us for not running a smooth live broadcast. Thank you."

iMBC

iMBC (KRX: 052220) is MBC's website, providing users with information on current and past programs and allowing users to download or stream programs to watch. Established in March 2000 as the internet subsidiary of MBC, iMBC uses the digital content of MBC to provide content to internet, mobile and ISP users and foreign businesses. iMBC also plans projects for creating, developing, and circulating new content. The site offers free and paid VOD services for users to view programs online. While the public-service programs, news, radio and programs currently on-air are free, drama, entertainment, and current-affairs programs are not.

For viewers in Korea and abroad, iMBC offers VOD streaming services. An episode typically costs around ₩500, and there is a fixed fee allowing users to watch as many videos as they wish for ₩4,000 a day or ₩15,000 a month. For users abroad, iMBC offers VOD download and streaming services, available for ₩1000 (about $1 US) each.