In the annual channel evaluations that pay TV operators conduct for program providers (PPs), all channels will receive the top score in the "production capability" category. That is because the government's "broadcast content production capability assessment," which underpinned that score, was suspended this year. This is the first time since its introduction in 2012 that the assessment has been halted.
Based on reporting by ChosunBiz on the 7th, internet TV (IPTV) operators such as KT (Genie TV), SK Broadband (Btv), and LG Uplus (U+tv), as well as cable TV and satellite broadcasting operators, decided to give a uniform "very excellent (6 points)" score to all channels in the production capability category when conducting this year's PP evaluations.
Channel evaluation refers to pay TV operators scoring PPs scheduled on their own channel lineups on a 100-point scale each year. Based on these results, the following year's channel numbers for PPs, whether to renew their contracts, and how to allocate content fees (program usage fees) are determined. If the score is poor, a channel may be pushed back in numbering, or fail to renew and be taken off the air.
Pay TV operators conduct channel evaluations under the "standard for PP evaluation criteria and procedures," jointly prepared by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Media and Communications Commission. The standard calls for evaluating channels across five areas—viewership (30 points), programming (30 points), content investment (20 points), production capability (10 points), and operational capacity (10 points)—and links 6 of the 10 points for production capability to the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC)'s "broadcast content production capability assessment." "Very excellent" receives 6 points, "excellent" 4 points, and "other channels" 2 points.
However, because the KMCC did not carry out the "broadcast content production capability assessment" this year, all channels will receive a perfect 6 points ("very excellent") in this category in this year's channel evaluations. A pay TV operator official said, "We were notified that, due to circumstances at the KMCC, the commission would not conduct the 'broadcast content production capability assessment' this year, and after the industry and associations sought a way to replace that score, it was decided to assign 6 points across the board."
This is the first time since its introduction in 2012 that the "broadcast content production capability assessment" has not been conducted. The KMCC, which administers the assessment, said this was not its own judgment but the result of the Ministry of Economy and Finance's expenditure restructuring process, in which the project's budget was fully cut. A KMCC official said, "The budget for the broadcast content production capability assessment project was reduced to '0 won' in the expenditure restructuring process, so we cannot conduct the assessment this year," adding, "This was not a matter for which the KMCC could allocate the budget at its own discretion."
Even considering that the assessment could not be conducted due to a lack of budget, critics say resorting to a temporary fix of "perfect scores for all channels" in the channel evaluation is a stopgap measure. In response, a KMCC official said, "Deciding how to replace the KMCC evaluation score is a matter for pay TV operators and PPs to discuss," adding, "I understand that the uniform allocation of 6 points was determined at the industry level." Although there is a government standard, the essence is that channel evaluations are conducted by pay TV operators, and the KMCC did not decide on the uniform 6-point allocation.
By contrast, industry officials said that because PP evaluations are supposed to follow the government standard, it is realistically difficult to introduce an alternative evaluation method on their own merely because there was no assessment this year. An industry official said, "Shouldn't the government revise the standard?"
The impact of the assessment gap is expected to extend beyond channel evaluations. The "broadcast content production capability assessment" is also used to select recipients for the Ministry of Science and ICT's "broadcast program production support project" and to select channels for the KMCC Broadcasting Awards' "excellence in production capability" category. In addition, the assessment will not be conducted next year either, raising the possibility that it will be halted for two consecutive years and move toward abolition. A KMCC official said, "We tried to include it in next year's budget bill to revive the project, but it fell through," adding, "As it stands, there are no project plans for next year."