Korean Broadcasting System - History

History

KBS began as Kyeongseong Broadcasting Corporation (JODK) that was established by the Japanese government in Korea on 16 February 1927. This second radio station started using the call sign HLKA in 1947 after the Republic of Korea got the call sign HL of the International Telecommunication Union. After doing a national broadcast, the radio was renamed Seoul Central Broadcasting Station in 1948.

Television broadcasts began on 29 October 1961 with the launch of KBS 1TV originally known as KBS-TV. KBS station status changed from government to public broadcasting station on March 3, 1973. KBS headquarters in Yeouido started construction in 1976. In 1979, KBS radio began broadcasting on the FM wave with the launch of KBS 1FM.

Differing from other public broadcasters in the world that does not accept advertising, apart from television fees, part of KBS revenue also come from advertisers. KBS began to accept advertising in 1980 after the forced merger of some private commercial broadcasting stations like Tongyang Broadcasting Company (TBC), the former body of JTBC, and Dong-A Broadcasting System (DBS) into KBS by the military government. Under the Chun Doo-hwan regime, South Korea's media policy had changed; the regime closed several private commercial radio and merged them with KBS. After the merger with Tongyang Broadcasting Company (TBC) and DBS, KBS changed these channels to KBS Radio 2 (AM/FM) and television station KBS 2TV in 1980 and created KBS 3TV and Educational FM in 1981.

On December 27, 1990, KBS 3TV and Educational FM split from KBS and changed its name to Educational Broadcasting System (EBS). After the revision of the television fee collection system in 1994, KBS 1TV no longer airs commercials.