Korea to ease TV ad regulations

The Korea Communications Commission said Monday that it would deregulate rules governing terrestrial broadcast advertising in line with efforts to help the saturated network advertising market and boost ultrahigh-definition content production.

South Korea currently regulates the amount of time and the type of commercials broadcasters can show between TV programs and station breaks as a means to control their influence on the public.

However, the KCC said it would revise this to regulate only the total amount of commercial time on network TVs, while allowing broadcasters to play any type of commercial they and their advertisers see strategically fit, beginning this year.

KCC chairman Choi Sung-joon said the revision was in line with global standards, stressing it was inevitable as it needs to reinvigorate the TV ad market that could also potentially lead to a UHD content boom.

Since more than 80 percent of visual content comes from terrestrial broadcasters, the ads are needed to boost UHD content, he added.

“A slowdown in the (TV) advertising market would deteriorate the content ecosystem and weaken the Korean Wave,” Choi told the press on Monday.http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140804000782