[Initial View] The Once Proud World's First UHD Broadcast Title Now Diminished

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] The ultra-high-definition terrestrial UHD TV, once praised as the next chapter in broadcasting history after color TV and digital TV, is being neglected due to the thorough indifference and insufficient investment from the three terrestrial broadcasters. Criticism is mounting that the valuable frequency band, obtained for free, is being wasted due to improper utilization.

On May 31, 2017, the three terrestrial broadcasters launched UHD broadcasting for the first time in the world. The terrestrial broadcasters presented a blueprint for "activating the industry through the establishment of a UHD ecosystem." They introduced UHD broadcasting as capable of immersive sound and having image quality four times clearer than existing HD, to the extent that even fine facial hairs could be seen. They planned to schedule 25% of all broadcasts in UHD by 2020, 50% by 2023, and 100% by 2027.

Contrary to the "world's first" title, terrestrial UHD broadcasting failed to take root properly. In 2020, the UHD scheduling ratio was only 13.7% for KBS1TV, 11.4% for KBS2TV, 10.5% for MBC, and 12.7% for SBS. This was because broadcasters, struggling with deficits due to higher production costs and a small viewing population, felt burdened. It was a fatal mistake not to consider that 97.5% of households watch terrestrial broadcasts through paid broadcasting services. Putting the public's convenience aside, the three terrestrial broadcasters focused solely on plans to reduce dependence on paid broadcasting by expanding direct reception. As a result, viewers watching terrestrial broadcasts via IPTV are seeing HD-level broadcasts, not UHD.

The government revised its original goals. The mandatory UHD content scheduling ratio was adjusted to gradually increase to 20% in 2022, 25% in 2023, 35% in 2024, and 50% in 2026. The plan to expand terrestrial UHD broadcasting networks to local areas was also postponed from 2021 to 2023. The policy, which had aggressively pushed for "early commercialization," was effectively acknowledged as a failure by making a course correction within three years.

Two years later, in the fifth year of commercialization, the results remain unimpressive. Park Wan-joo, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out at a recent National Assembly Science, Broadcasting and Communications Committee audit, "Excluding remastered existing HD content, the UHD scheduling ratio of the three terrestrial broadcasters is below 20%."

The utilization of the ambitious 700 MHz band introduced with UHD is also minimal. The direct reception rate of terrestrial UHD has been declining every year. The direct reception rate peaked at 5.3% in the first year of introduction in 2017, then dropped to 4.2% in 2018, 2.6% in 2019, 2.3% in 2020, and 2.2% in 2021. This figure suggests that almost no households receive direct signals. The government originally planned to allocate the 700 MHz band for mobile communications through the Mobile Gwanggaeto Plan. However, the plan was changed following demands from the National Assembly for the world's first UHD commercialization.

The government has effectively given away a high-value frequency band for free for broadcasts that no one watches. Inside broadcasting companies, there are many voices saying that continuing UHD under unprofitable conditions is an overreach. There are also calls to use the band for mobile communications as originally planned. It is time for the government to put down the weight of being the "world's first" and make a decisive decision.