TITLES

• Korea
MBC Intensifies the production of
drama series for the whole world

Korean dramas look for new markets
in Asia, Russia and Latin America

Korean Broadcasting Institute
A vital support for the industry

Demand for educational programs

Supporting and promoting
its industry worldwide

• China
On the road to new markets

• The Philippines
ABS-CBN reaches more territories
in the global market

  


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•TVMASNOVELAS
2006 Fourth World Summit of the Telenovela and Fiction Industry
Korea

MBC Intensifies the production of drama series for the whole world

  

“We produce tens and tens of drama series a year and that is our main competence, because it is the business that provides us with the largest advertising revenues,” sets off Jean Hur, Marketing Director at Munhwa Broadcasting Corp. (MBC) from Korea, and adds that it is because of this that they make an effort to improve the quality of their drama series.
MBC is one of the public channels in the country where between 60% and 70% of the programming is produced – entertainment programs, talk shows, documentaries and, of course, drama series, with a production of more than a thousand a year. Its drama series know no borders or limits, since they can be watched in the whole of Asia, including Japan, Taiwan and China where they have great ratings. And now it is considering extending the distribution to Europe, Arabia and even Russia, Eastern Europe, the United States and Latin America.

Have you sold products in Latin America?

What we have done in that region is to provide all the material to the Korean Department for Foreign Affairs and this department is in charge of the coverage through the different embassies. Therefore, each embassy will organize the broadcasting of MBC’s drama series, both in cable and terrestrial channels.

American series lose slots
Towards the end of the 80s, MBC used to broadcast a large number of American programs. But since this is one of the many markets that wants to see their own productions, with local actors and stories to identify with, Korean dramas took over series like ER or X Files in the programming schedules. “Before, those programs were broadcasted at midnight, but now they are not even programmed at that time, so more than 90% of our drama series are Korean,” says Hur.

When faced with revealing the secret of Korean drama series, Hur explains: “The reason behind Korean dramas’ popularity is that they have strong stories and protagonist actors are very charismatic compared to those from other Asian countries. But, currently, the only aspect that can offer a real guarantee is to improve the quality of production and to keep stories close to reality. Another aspect is to find new stories that allow for a systematic rhythm of various simple styles.”