Joo Jin-woo "TBS Budget Cut, Isn't It Retaliation?"... Seoul City Side "No Interference in Broadcasting"

Lee Chang-geun Spokesperson "Did TBS Make Efforts for Financial Independence?"

Reporter Joo Jin-woo, who hosts KBS's 'Joo Jin-woo Live,' asked Lee Chang-geun, spokesperson for the Seoul Metropolitan Government, "Is the TBS budget cut a form of retaliation by the Seoul city government?" / Photo by KBS Radio Broadcast Capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Reporter Joo Jin-woo, who hosts KBS Radio's 'Joo Jin-woo Live,' questioned Lee Chang-geun, spokesperson for Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, regarding the decision to cut the budget for Traffic Broadcasting System (TBS). He asked, "Isn't this to get rid of Kim Eo-jun?" In response, the Seoul city side denied, saying, "We can never intervene in (the broadcasting)."

On the 9th, in an interview with KBS 'Joo Jin-woo Live,' the spokesperson said, "We cannot intervene in the programming or operation of the broadcast."

When Reporter Joo asked, "If the contribution is reduced, does that mean wages should be cut?" he replied, "The management is responsible for the finances," but added, "I want to question whether the management has truly made efforts to create independent revenue sources and strengthen TBS's finances."

Regarding Reporter Joo's remark, "There are talks that the TBS budget cut is (political) retaliation," he said, "I also know that there are voices of self-reflection within TBS," and added, "When TBS became an independent foundation in 2019, the financial independence aspect was sufficiently discussed and handled by the Korea Communications Commission. I think we need to look back on whether TBS made such efforts and whether there was any negligence."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is announcing the 2022 Seoul city budget at the Seoul City Hall briefing room on the morning of the 1st. / Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, on the 1st, Seoul City submitted a budget proposal to the city council that cut next year's TBS contribution from 37.5 billion won this year to about 25.2 billion won, a reduction of approximately 12.3 billion won.

Mayor Oh explained the background of cutting the TBS contribution in next year's budget, saying, "The meaning of independent media, independent broadcasting, and independence itself is that rights and authority must come with corresponding obligations and responsibilities for true independence," and added, "In that sense, since TBS declared independence two years ago, this budget cut was made to ensure it becomes truly independent in both name and reality."

However, Kim Eo-jun, a broadcaster who hosts TBS's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' (News Factory), publicly criticized this Seoul City budget proposal.

On the 9th, on his TBS 'News Factory' program, Kim said, "News Factory once again ranked number one with an even larger margin in this year's last audience rating survey," and pointed out, "Since 2018, it has continuously ranked first overall, yet Seoul City submitted a budget proposal cutting the TBS radio headquarters budget by 96.1%."

Meanwhile, TBS, which started in 1990 as the Traffic Broadcasting Headquarters under Seoul City, became an independent foundation separate from Seoul City in February last year. However, it still relies on more than 70% of its revenue from Seoul City's contributions.

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