Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation

show This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Korean. (September 2017) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Korean article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 416 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary Content in this edit is translated from the existing Korean Wikipedia article at [[:ko:문화방송]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|ko|문화방송}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation

Latin-alphabet logo used since 3 January 2005
MBC headquarters in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul
Native name
Hangul	주식회사문화방송
Hanja	株式會社文化放送
Revised Romanization	Jusikhoesa Munhwa Bangsong
McCune–Reischauer	Chushikhoesa Munhwa Pangsong
Type	Public
Traded as	KRX: 052220
Industry	Broadcast radio and television
Founded	21 February 1961; 60 years ago (1961-02-21)
Headquarters	267, Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul, South Korea
Number of locations	9 cities (Tokyo, Beijing, Bangkok, Paris, London, Los Angeles, Washington, and New York) (2015)
Area served	South Korea United States (satellite, certain metropolitan areas over-the-air)
Key people	Park Sung-jae CEO & President, 2020-present
Revenue	1,500,941,912,398 won (2015)
Operating income	59,272,035,738 won (2015)
Net income	82,403,520,805 won (2015)
Total assets	2,557,227,645,206 won (December 2015)
Total equity	1,000,000,000 won (December 2015)
Owner	Government of South Korea through The Foundation of Broadcast Culture : 70% Jeong-Su Scholarship Foundation: 30%
Number of employees	1,712 (December 2015)
Subsidiaries	MBC Plus MBC C&I iMBC MBC Arts MBC Play Fee MBC Academy MBC America MBC Nanum
Website	IMBC.com

Part of a series on the
Culture of Korea
History
show People Demographics of South Korea / Demographics of North Korea Diaspora South Korean nationality law / Nationality Law(DPRK)
show Languages History Dialects North-South differences Phonology Grammar Honorifics Hangul
show Traditions Philosophy Etiquette Marriage Funerals Tea ceremony Masks Kisaeng Hanjeungmak / Jjimjilbang Court music Clothing
show Mythology and folklore Mythology folklore
show Cuisine Gimbap Patbingsu Bibimbap Seolleongtang Kimchi Korean fried chicken Tteok Banchan Gochujang Doenjang Anju Makgeolli Soju Soups Stews Noodles Barbecue
show Festivals Korean New Year National Liberation Day Chuseok
show Religion Shamanism Taoism Buddhism Neo-Confucianism Cheondoism Christianity Unification Church
show Art Calligraphy Buddhist art Paintings Flower arrangements Gardens Jade carving Knotting Pottery and porcelain Pagoda
show Literature Hyangga Sijo Chinese-language literature Sinsoseol North Korean literature / South Korean literature Manhwa Poetry
show Music and performing arts Music Performing arts Dancing Fan dancing Traditional oral literature Mass Games Korean revolutionary opera
show Media Cinema Internet censorship / Internet censorship in North Korea Cinema of South Korea / Cinema of North Korea Music of South Korea / Music of North Korea Chosun Ilbo / Donga Ilbo / JoongAng Ilbo / Hankook Ilbo / Kyunghyang Shinmun / The Hankyoreh KBS1 / KBS2 / MBC / EBS / SBS Nate / Naver / Daum / Cyworld Propaganda K-pop / K-drama
show Sport Martial arts Video games / Esports
show Monuments World Heritage Sites Architecture Fortress
show National symbols of Korea Flag Coat of arms National symbols of North Korea National symbols of South Korea
show Organisations Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism List of museums in North Korea
v t

Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC; Korean: 주식회사문화방송; Hanja: 株式會社文化放送; RR: Jusikhoesa Munhwa Bangsong; lit. "Cultural Broadcasting Corporation") is one of the leading South Korean television and radio network companies. Munhwa is the Sino-Korean word for "culture". Its flagship terrestrial television station MBC TV is Channel 11 (LCN) for Digital.

Established on 2 December 1961, MBC is a Korean terrestrial broadcaster which has a nationwide network of 17 regional stations. Although it operates on advertising, MBC is a public broadcaster, as its largest shareholder is a public organization, The Foundation of Broadcast Culture. Today, it is a multimedia group with one terrestrial TV channel, three radio channels, five cable channels, five satellite channels and four DMB channels.

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

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 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 & white TV era (1969-1980)[]

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 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 The Kyunghyang Shinmun (daily newspaper company).

Colour TV era (1980-1990)[]

The first colour TV broadcasting was started on 22 December 1980. MBC was separated from The Kyunghyang Shinmun according to the 1981 Basic Press Act. In 1982, it moved into the Yeouido 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, new DMB broadcasting and full daytime broadcasting on terrestrial television. In 2007, MBC established digital production centre Ilsan Dream Center, which is equipped with high-tech production facilities. In September 2014, it completed the construction of a new headquarters building and moved from Yeouido 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 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.^[1][2] In northeast metro Atlanta, it aired on WKTB-CD channel 47.3, but as of 2011 is on WSKC-CD channel 22.1.

In March 2013, computer shutdowns hit South Korean television stations including the MBC.^[3] The South Korean government asserted a North Korean link in the March cyberattacks, which has been denied by Pyongyang.^[4]

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 overseas 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 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 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.

Controversy[]

Olympics broadcast offensive accusation[]

During the broadcasting of the parade of nations 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, MBC was accused domestically and internationally for making depictions of numerous countries that were deemed racist and offensive.^[5] The most notable country depictions displayed during the broadcast is the use of the Chernobyl disaster to depict Ukraine and riots to depict Haiti, which were deemed offensive and disrespectful. The incident sparked anger among Ukrainians and Haitians.^[6] On 27 July, MBC president Park Sung-jae apologised to the public as well as the affected nations, especially to the Embassy of Ukraine and Romania in Seoul in a press conference and promised to ensure all of its content to be respectful towards universal values and cultural diversity.^[7] MBC also declared a written apology on their official website.^[8] However, Haitian Foreign Minister Claude Joseph fired back at MBC saying that "Their apology didn't go far enough, but the incident shouldn't be allowed to distract from the athletes who have worked tirelessly for years to get to the Olympics".^[9] The incident also caused national uproar among Koreans, some Korean netizens accused MBC for being insensitive and unprofessional, some apologised to the countries affected.^[10]

MBC channels[]

See also on Korean Wikipedia: Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation Television

• 1 terrestrial TV (MBC TV – channel 11)
• 3 Radio stations:

Name	Frequency	Power (kW)
MBC Standard FM	900 kHz AM 95.9 MHz FM	50 kW(AM) 10 kW(FM)
MBC FM4U	91.9 MHz FM	10 kW
Channel M	CH 12A DAB	2 kW

• 5 cable (drama, sports, game-show, variety and documentary)
• 5 satellite (drama, sports, game-show, variety and documentary)
• 3 terrestrial DMB (TV, radio, data)
• 2 satellite DMB (drama, sports)

Logos[]

• 

  First logo (used 1961 to 1969)

• 

  Second MBC logo (used 1969 to 1974)

• 

  Third MBC logo (1974 to March 1980)

• 

  Fourth MBC logo (used April 1980 to November 1981)

• 

  Fifth MBC logo (December 1981 to 1985)

• 

  Sixth MBC logo (1985 to December 2004)

• 

  Seventh MBC logo and current MBC logo (used since 3 January 2005)

• 

  Second version of the current MBC logo (used since 3 January 2005)

• 

  Korean language logo (used since 3 January 2005)

Headquarters[]

• 

  Current MBC headquarters located in Sangam-dong (4 August 2014 – present)

• 

  MBC Dream Center located in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province (30 November 2007 – present)

• 

  Old MBC headquarters located in Yeouido (17 February 1982 - 3 August 2014)

• 

  Old MBC building located in Jeong-dong (8 August 1969 - 16 February 1982; now used by Kyunghyang Shinmun)

See also[]

• List of programs broadcast by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation
• Korean Broadcasting System
• Educational Broadcasting System
• List of South Korean broadcasting networks
• List of Korea-related topics
• Contemporary culture of South Korea

References[]

External links[]

• Official Homepage
• Live Stream (Chuncheon MBC)
• Live Stream (Wonnju MBC)
• MBC Global Media English language homepage
• MBC in Brief
• MBC History Logos
• Oh!K Southeast Asia SEA Version of MBC Joint Venture with Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific