Science and ICT Ministry Mediates "Look at the Forest, Not the Trees," Criticizes Content Usage Fee Dispute

Paid Broadcasting Industry Win-Win Council Meeting Held

[Asia Economy Reporter Joeslgina] "The paid broadcasting industry should not just look at their own trees in their respective areas, but should see the forest where the entire broadcasting ecosystem can grow."

Recently, the government expressed discomfort over the conflict regarding content fees in the paid broadcasting market, including the U+ Mobile TV usage fee negotiations between CJ ENM and LG Uplus, which escalated to a transmission suspension incident. Despite mediation by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the responsible ministry, official statements such as "The three IPTV companies are stingy in paying usage fees (CJ ENM)" and "CJ ENM is full of arrogance and greed (IPTV Association)" have been exchanged, intensifying the conflict between both sides day by day and raising concerns about user damage.

On the afternoon of the 1st, the Ministry of Science and ICT held a 'Paid Broadcasting Industry Win-Win Council' chaired by Heo Seong-wook, Director of the Network Policy Office, at the Korea Cable TV Broadcasting Association's main conference room to discuss ways to resolve industry conflicts and promote mutual cooperation. Attendees included representatives from ▲ the three IPTV companies KT, SK Broadband, LG Uplus, ▲ SO operators such as LG HelloVision, D'Live, KCTV Jeju Broadcasting, ▲ home shopping operators such as GS Home Shopping, NS Shopping, TRN, SK Stoa, and ▲ PP companies such as CJ ENM, Silver Eye, Pilcon Media, Seoul STV.

During the session, the Ministry of Science and ICT presented the government's basic stance and review directions regarding ▲ content usage fee calculation standards and ▲ home shopping transmission fees.

First, regarding the content usage fee calculation standards, the ministry plans to effectively improve the 'Paid Broadcasting Channel Contract Procedure Guidelines' in consultation with the Korea Communications Commission and will prepare and present 'Standard Channel Evaluation Criteria and Procedures' in the future. They also proposed a general direction for the channels subject to content fee distribution, the distribution methods, and procedures.

Regarding home shopping transmission fees, the ministry suggested the need to review a two-stage distinction in negotiation timing and negotiation methods between paid broadcasters and home shopping companies.

The ministry did not hide its discomfort over the recent conflicts surrounding content usage fees within the paid broadcasting industry. While autonomous negotiations between companies should be respected, prolonged conflicts inevitably lead to user harm.

Director Heo Seong-wook expressed regret over the industry's tendency to externalize conflicts to enforce their interests rather than discussing ways for mutual cooperation and development. He pointed out, "The paid broadcasting industry should not just look at their own trees in their respective areas but should see the forest where the entire broadcasting ecosystem can grow."

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to carefully review the proposed measures and concretize them through sufficient discussions with the industry and stakeholders. They also requested each company to actively support the practical discussions of the win-win council and the broadcasting channel fee calculation improvement council.

Additionally, Director Heo urged CJ ENM, the largest domestic content supplier, and the three IPTV companies to sincerely engage in negotiations to smoothly conclude content usage fee talks based on mutual understanding and concessions for coexistence. He stated that if any incidents infringing on viewers' rights, such as broadcast transmission suspensions, occur during the negotiation process, strict measures such as corrective orders will be taken.

The conflict over content usage fees in the paid broadcasting market reached its peak last month when CJ ENM completely suspended real-time transmission of 10 CJ ENM channels provided on LG Uplus's U+ Mobile TV. The two companies failed to narrow their differences over content fees until the last moment and engaged in a war of nerves, blaming each other for the negotiation breakdown immediately after the supply suspension. Following LG Uplus, KT Season is also negotiating with CJ ENM, raising concerns that real-time broadcast suspension incidents may continue. KT is reportedly facing a demand for a tenfold increase compared to before.

CJ ENM and the three IPTV companies are also in conflict over the overall content usage fee levels for IPTV, not just mobile. CJ ENM is demanding a 25% increase compared to the previous year, insisting on receiving fair content fees. On the other hand, the three IPTV companies argue that payments are sufficient relative to sales and counter that complying with CJ ENM's demands from limited resources would reduce the shares paid to small and medium PP companies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.