Paid broadcasters have moved to curb a workaround in which they tweak only dubbing or subtitles with artificial intelligence (AI) and schedule the result as a new title (F/W, First Window). Program providers (PPs) will filter out attempts to boost channel evaluation scores by dressing up cheap AI reprocessed content as new.
According to the paid broadcasting industry on the 3rd, internet TV (IPTV) operators such as KT (Genie TV), SK Broadband (Btv), and LG Uplus (U+tv), as well as cable TV and satellite broadcasters, agreed to partially regulate AI slop (low-quality content) when conducting PP evaluations starting this year.
The 2026 PP evaluation criteria details they are applying include the provision: "Programs that attach crude dubbing or subtitles using Generative AI and the like, resulting in awkwardness, or that cannot objectively be seen as having changed the content or character of the broadcast, will not be recognized as new." Each broadcaster plans to conduct channel evaluations based on this standard. The 2026 PP evaluation will cover Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2026, and be carried out early next year, and the criteria will be published in advance so PPs can prepare.
Channel evaluation refers to paid broadcasters scoring, once a year, the PPs that place channels on their platforms. Ratings, programming, content investment costs, production capacity, and operational capability are evaluated on a 100-point scale. The channel evaluation score affects whether to renew the contract the following year, channel numbers, and distribution of content usage fees. If a low score is received, a channel can be pushed to a higher number or lose its contract, making channel evaluation a matter of survival for PPs.
Within channel evaluation, "programming" (30 points) scores how many new titles there are. It sums the airtime of programs broadcast first among Korea's paid broadcasters and divides them into grades from A (7.5 points) to D (1.5 points). The less a channel recycles previous broadcasts and the more it schedules new content, the higher the score.
The problem was that by cheaply adding only AI dubbing or subtitles to existing broadcasts and passing them off as "new," PPs could collect new-title points even though the content was effectively recycled. A paid broadcasting official said, "As cases that undermine viewer benefit—such as simple cut-and-paste exploiting the limits of recent quantitative criteria or awkward AI dubbing—have increased, all paid broadcasters decided to establish common standards and implement sanctions."
Another paid broadcasting official said, "Some PP channels scheduled videos that simply used AI in off-peak hours to raise the proportion of new broadcasts and earn high channel evaluation scores," adding, "IPTV, cable TV, and satellite broadcasters coordinated to establish this rule." Another paid broadcasting official said, "These cases did not involve major PPs; some small and midsize PPs tried to exploit a loophole by using AI."
Using AI does not automatically exclude a program from channel evaluation. The 2026 PP evaluation criteria details also newly include a clause stating, "If substantial changes such as significant dubbing script revisions or voice actor changes actually alter the content, it will be recognized as new." The intent is to acknowledge re-productions that require labor and expense, while filtering out only crude reprocessed content that merely slaps AI subtitles onto old broadcasts.
Observers say this move reflects a sense of crisis in paid broadcasting. As viewers shift to over-the-top (OTT) services and subscriber growth stalls, the industry's push to focus on quality content has led to filtering out low-quality reprocessed material. An industry official said, "Both paid broadcasters and PPs need to make efforts to revitalize the media ecosystem with quality content."