The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Intelligent Information Society Agency announced on the 23rd that they conducted a paid broadcasting service quality evaluation. This evaluation assesses the quality of paid broadcasting services provided by a total of 18 cable operators, evaluating quantitative items such as channel switching time and the number and duration of video-on-demand (VOD) ads, as well as qualitative items such as perceived video quality and user satisfaction at different stages of content services. This evaluation has been conducted annually since 2018.
In this round of quality evaluation, a new assessment of 'information search satisfaction' related to real-time channel and video-on-demand (VOD) navigation was introduced, and the types of 'perceived video quality' evaluated by users were expanded from two (news, drama) to three (adding sports). Additionally, while previous measurements of quantitative evaluations such as channel switching time were conducted only during the day (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.), they were also measured at night (7 p.m. to 11 p.m.) to more accurately reflect the viewing environment of users.
According to the quality evaluation results, this year, there was an improvement in perceived video quality, user satisfaction at different service stages, and content satisfaction compared to the previous year. The volume levels met the standard and were at a satisfactory level, and the start time for set-top boxes and both the duration and number of VOD ads decreased, indicating an overall improvement in quality.
The measured set-top box start time, which is the time taken from turning on the set-top box in standby mode to when the service can be used, averaged 2.96 seconds, a decrease of 0.07 seconds compared to the previous year (3.03 seconds). The minimum time average was measured at 2.44 seconds, and the maximum time average was 4.08 seconds.
The channel switching time, measured as the time taken to change the channel using the remote control, averaged 1.45 seconds, showing a result similar to the previous year (1.42 seconds). The minimum channel switching time average was 0.82 seconds, and the maximum time average was 2.86 seconds, with the average switching time between non-adjacent channels being longer at 1.65 seconds compared to adjacent channels, which was 1.26 seconds.
The measurement of the average volume levels of real-time broadcasting channels and the average volume differences between channels revealed that all operators met the standard volume criterion (-24 LKFS, tolerance ±2 dB). The percentage of channels exceeding the standard volume averaged 8.1%, an improvement compared to the previous year's figure of 8.7%. The maximum volume difference between individual channels also improved to an average of 6.0 dB from 6.5 dB last year.
The average number of ads per paid VOD was 0.37, and the average ad duration was 9.97 seconds, showing a decrease compared to the previous year (0.51 ads, 12.94 seconds). When comparing the advertising status of paid VOD and free VOD, the average number of ads for free VOD was 2.03, and the ad duration was 67.63 seconds, indicating that the number of ads was 5.5 times more and the ad duration was 6.8 times longer for free VOD compared to paid VOD.
The average perceived video quality evaluated by a user evaluation group (1,691 households) was rated at 4.60 points (on a 5-point scale), indicating an overall excellent level. By type, news scored 4.59 points, drama scored 4.60 points, and sports (new) also scored 4.60 points. The frequency of abnormal screen incidents, such as freezing and breaking, was averaged at 0.11 times per video (approximately 11 times when watching 100 videos), a decrease compared to the previous year's figure of 0.13 times.
The overall average content satisfaction score for the diversity of provided VOD and the appropriateness of paid VOD expenses was 58.6 points (out of 100 points), an improvement from the previous year (56.8 points). Among the evaluation items, the VOD quantity item, which assesses whether there is a sufficient number of videos within a genre, showed that paid VOD had higher satisfaction than free VOD across all operator types. While the satisfaction level for paid VOD expenses was relatively low compared to other items (54.9 points), it saw an increase from the previous year's figure of 52.1 points.
The satisfaction survey results of users with various stages of paid broadcasting services averaged 65.2 points (out of 100 points), reflecting an improvement compared to the previous year's average of 63.7 points. By service stage, satisfaction levels were relatively high in installation (70.4 points) and service (A/S) (68.9 points), while the satisfaction level in usage (61.2 points) was relatively low. Notably, satisfaction scores for the cancellation phase (63.8 points) saw the most significant increase compared to the previous year's figure of 56.4 points.
The user satisfaction score for set-top box performance was measured at an average of 61.9 points, improving from last year (60.6 points). A new evaluation introduced this year for information search satisfaction revealed an overall average of 63.8 points (out of 100 points) regarding user satisfaction with channel information during real-time viewing and VOD content searches. Among the evaluation items, satisfaction with search results for content was relatively low at 62.0 points, while satisfaction with the viewing reservation function during channel information searches was relatively high at 67.9 points.