Industry Clash Over LG HelloVision Channel Discontinuation: "Undermining Procedures" vs. "Fees Must Be Cut Based on Market Value"

Program Providers and System Operators Clash
PPs: "Could Undermine Industry Channel-Change Procedures"
SOs: "Fees Must Be Negotiated Based on Objective Market Value"

Program providers (PPs) and system operators (SOs) clashed over LG HelloVision’s decision to discontinue channels. After the Korea Broadcasting Channel Promotion Association called for a review of the channel discontinuation and the government’s acceptance of a notification of changes to the terms and conditions, the Korea Cable Television Association countered that the situation stemmed from a failure to negotiate fees based on objective market value.

On November 10, the SO Council said in a statement, “We strongly regret that the Korea Broadcasting Channel Promotion Association publicly criticized a specific pay-TV operator in its statement and even disparaged the government’s policy judgment, which is aimed at revitalizing Korea’s broadcasting and media industry.”

The PP Association said LG HelloVision’s decision to discontinue channels could undermine government guidelines and the industry’s channel-change procedures. It stressed that the company must comply with the “Guidelines on Pay-TV Channel Contracts and Content Supply Procedures,” established in 2021 through the Pay-TV Win-Win Cooperation Council. The association said LG HelloVision had not given sufficient consideration to the channels’ strong performance in its previous evaluations. It called for fair trade practices among pay-TV operators, saying that even if LG HelloVision faced difficulties such as declining home-shopping transmission fee revenue and a shrinking subscriber base, it should not pass the burden on to PPs by demanding lower fees.

In contrast, the SO Council said the channel discontinuation resulted from some PPs turning a blind eye to the declining market value of pay-TV and insisting on fees at past levels. It pointed out that these providers were expanding their OTT businesses and offering the same content through quick VOD about five minutes after its live broadcast began, while still seeking to secure existing fee levels from pay-TV operators.

Citing CJ ENM as an example, the SO Council said that from 2023 to 2025, viewership for the relevant channels fell by 20%, while pay-TV subscriptions also declined by 6.3%. It said the channels’ market share was 21.8%, but they accounted for more than 50% of total program fees for general channels. The council maintained that insisting on keeping fees at existing levels while viewership and subscriptions were declining failed to reflect market realities.

The council claimed that various options, including phased fee reductions and channel adjustments, had been proposed during negotiations but were rejected. It criticized the Korea Broadcasting Channel Promotion Association for blaming a specific pay-TV operator for the channel discontinuation while ignoring the course of negotiations and the refusal to engage in dispute mediation.

The SO Council said, “They must acknowledge the reality of declining market value and abandon their insistence on guaranteeing existing revenue,” adding, “They should respect the government’s dispute resolution procedures and engage in good-faith negotiations over reasonable fees based on market value.”

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