"Cable TV Best Suited to Realize 'Media-Based Society'... Keeps Neighborhood Stories Alive"

Highlights three key initiatives centered on locality, universality and AI
Reads open letter to the president: "We hope to discuss sustainability"

"Even in an era when artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the world, we will ensure that the precious stories of our neighborhoods do not disappear."

Hwang Hee-man, chairman of the Korea Cable Television Broadcasting Association, speaks about cable TV’s role in creating a “media-based society” at a press conference held at Seoul Garden Hotel in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 8th. Photo provided by the Korea Cable Television Broadcasting Association.

Hwang Heeman, president of the Korea Cable Television and Telecommunications Association, shared this aspiration at a press conference held on October 8 at the Seoul Garden Hotel in Mapo-gu, Seoul, and said the association would take the lead in realizing a "media-based society." The concept is the first-term vision of the Broadcasting Media and Communications Commission, which marked its first anniversary, and centers on media welfare that leaves no one behind and stronger community connections.

"The commission's policy direction aligns with the goals cable TV has long pursued," Hwang said. "We will become the closest platform connecting people to their fundamental right to access media." The aim is to use local infrastructure at the city, county and district levels—areas not covered by terrestrial broadcasters or online video services (OTT)—to prevent local information from being overlooked amid an AI transition led by global big tech companies.

The association also announced three key initiatives focused on locality, universality and AI. Lee Hanho, chair of the Cable TV Operators' (SO) Council, said, "We will continue to report on and document local news, daily life information and local culture, and work to ensure that residents' voices are reflected in local government restructuring and government policies to revitalize regional economies. We believe that protecting the stories of our neighborhoods means protecting residents' right to know."

He added, "To safeguard universal access to media, we plan to bring the 8VSB services, which have operated under different names, together under a single name: 'TV for Everyone.'" 8VSB is a service that provides affordable, one-way high-definition broadcasts without a separate set-top box. Through this initiative, the association aims to ensure that older adults and viewers who are not familiar with technology are not left behind as new forms of media emerge.

To address the information gap, the association will run "Our Neighborhood AI Classroom" in partnership with local welfare centers, senior colleges and community service centers. Local SO channels will also produce and air jointly planned programs about AI. "Through programs such as 'Local AI Sovereignty: Is Our Region Ready?' we will examine how local small and medium-sized businesses and traditional markets are using AI, and how AI could transform rural communities and regional industries," Lee said. "We will also ask, from a local perspective, whether the data, culture, language, history and stories of people in each region are being properly documented and put to use in the AI era."

At the press conference, the association read aloud an "open letter to the president" summarizing the industry's commitment and planned actions to build a media-based society. The letter said policy support is needed to ensure that cable TV can continue fulfilling its unique public responsibilities and serving as local media as technology advances. "No matter how much AI changes the world or how quickly the media landscape evolves, what media must protect to the very end is 'people' and 'local communities,'" Hwang said. "We will first do what we need to do. We hope to work with the government to consider how to ensure the sustainability of cable TV."

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