Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC; ) is one of the leading

South Korean television In South Korea, there are a number of national television networks, the three largest of which are KBS, MBC, and SBS. Most of the major television studios are located on Yeouido and Sangam-dong, Seoul. South Korea became the fourth adopter i ...

and radio broadcasters. ''Munhwa'' is the Sino-Korean word for "culture". Its flagship

terrestrial television Terrestrial television or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the signal transmission occurs via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an ant ...

station MBC TV broadcasts as

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

11. Established on 2 December 1961, MBC's terrestrial operations has a nationwide network of 17 regional stations. Although it operates on advertising, MBC is a

public broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

, as its largest shareholder is a public organization,

the Foundation of Broadcast Culture The Foundation for Broadcast Culture is the only institution dedicated to the promotion of broadcasting in South Korea. Partly to address concerns following the country's 1987 democratic reforms, the National Assembly established the Foundation ...

. MBC consists of a multimedia group with one terrestrial TV channel, three radio channels, five cable channels, five satellite channels and four DMB channels. MBC is headquartered in

Digital Media City Digital Media City (DMC; ko, 디지털미디어시티) is a high-tech complex for Digital data, digital technologies, housing Ubiquitous computing, ubiquitous Computer networking, networked offices, apartments, exhibitions, conference halls, tel ...

(DMC),

Mapo District Mapo District () is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. Mapo has a population of 381,330 (2015) and has a geographic area of 23.87 km2 (9.22 sq mi), and is divided into 24 '' dong'' (administrative neighborhoods). Mapo is located in w ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

and has the largest broadcast production facilities in Korea including digital production centre Dream Center in Ilsan, indoor and outdoor sets in

Yongin Daejanggeum Park Yongin Daejanggeum Park (; ), previously known as MBC Dramia (), is an outdoor film set owned by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation in the city of Yongin in Gyeonggi province, South Korea. Background Built in 2005, the site comprises a total area o ...

History

Radio era (1961-1968)

Launching the first radio broadcast signal (call sign: HLKV, frequency: 900 kHz, output: 10 kW) from Seoul, MBC started as the first non-governmental commercial broadcaster in Korea. On 12 April 1963, it obtained a license from the government for operating regional stations in major cities (Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, Jeonju) in Korea, and established a broadcast network which connects six cities including Seoul and Busan.

Black and white TV era (1969-1980)

MBC launched TV broadcasting on 8 August 1969 (call sign: HLAC-TV, output: 2 kW), and started to broadcast its main news program

MBC Newsdesk ''MBC Newsdesk'' is the main nightly newscast of the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). It premiered on October 5, 1970, and currently airs at 19:50 KST. It is presented by Wang Jong-myung and Lee Jae-eun on weekdays, and Kim Kyung-ho and Kim ...

on 5 October 1970. It reached affiliation deal with 7 commercial stations (in Ulsan, Jinju, Gangnueng, Chuncheon, Mokpo, Jeju, Masan) between 1968 and 1969, and started nationwide TV broadcasting through its 13 affiliated or regional stations. In 1974, FM radio was launched, and MBC took over the

Kyunghyang Shinmun The ''Kyunghyang Shinmun'' or ''Kyonghyang Sinmun'' is a major daily newspaper published in South Korea. It is based in Seoul. The name literally means ''Urbi et Orbi Daily News''.

(daily newspaper company).

Colour TV era (1980-1990)

The first colour TV broadcasting was started on 22 December 1980. MBC was separated from the Kyunghyang Shinmun according to the 1981 Basic Press Act. In 1982, it moved into the Yeouido headquarters. That same year, the network founded its baseball team, MBC Cheong-ryong (Blue Dragon), which entered the

KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...

as a charter team, in addition to the network being the first home of the league's TV broadcasts. With the live coverage of the 1986 Seoul Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, MBC made a great advancement in scale and technology. Ownership of the Blue Dragon was passed to

LG Corporation LG Corporation (or LG Group) (), formerly Lucky-Goldstar from 1983 to 1995 (Korean: ''Leokki Geumseong''; ), is a South Korean multinational conglomerate founded by Koo In-hwoi and managed by successive generations of his family. It is ...

in 1989.

Multimedia era (1991-2000)

After rapidly growing into a large corporation, covering major international events, MBC established specialized companies for each value chain (MBC Production, MBC Media Tech, MBC Broadcast Culture Center, MBC Arts Company, MBC Arts Center) and spined them off as subsidiaries to become a more efficient corporation amid fiercer competition in the multimedia era. ※ MBC Production and MBC Media Tech were merged into MBC C&I in August, 2011.

Digital era (2001–present)

As the convergence of broadcasting and communications becomes full-fledged, MBC made its subsidiary iMBC (internet MBC) an independent corporation and pursued various internet-related business. Furthermore, it started cable TV (MBC Plus Media,) satellite TV, new DMB broadcasting and full daytime broadcasting on terrestrial television. In 2007, MBC established digital production centre Ilsan Dream Center, which is equipped with high-tech production facilities. In September 2014, it completed the construction of a new headquarters building and moved from Yeouido to Sangam-dong, opening a new era of Sangam MBC. In 2001, MBC launched

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

and

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

broadcasting. As part of this expansion it created MBC America, a subsidiary based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, United States, to distribute its programming throughout

the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...

. On 1 August 2008, MBC America launched MBC-D, a

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...

carried on the

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...

s of

KSCI-TV KSCI (channel 18) is a television station licensed to Long Beach, California, United States, serving the Los Angeles area. Owned by WRNN-TV Associates, the station airs programming from ShopHQ. KSCI's studios are located on South Bundy Drive in ...

KTSF-TV KTSF (channel 26) is a multicultural independent television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The station is owned by the Lincoln Broadcasting Company, and maintains studios on Vall ...

, and

WMBC-TV WMBC-TV (channel 63) is an independent television station licensed to Newton, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York metropolitan area. The station is owned by the Mountain Broadcasting Corporation, and maintains studios on Clinton R ...

. The service was planned to be launched in Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. by the end of the year. In northeast

metro Atlanta Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and the ...

, it aired on

WKTB-CD WKTB-CD (channel 47) is a low-power, Class A television station licensed to Norcross, Georgia, United States, broadcasting the Spanish-language Telemundo network to the Atlanta area. It is owned by locally based Gray Television alongside CBS a ...

channel 47.3, but as of 2011 is on

WSKC-CD WSKC-CD, UHF digital channel 14, is a low-powered KBS World- affiliated television station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The station is owned by KM LPTV of Atlanta, LLC. History Early Years The original callsign from 1984 was W04B ...

channel 22.1. In March 2013, computer shutdowns hit South Korean television stations, including MBC. The South Korean government asserted a

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

n link in the March cyberattacks, which has been denied by Pyongyang.

International relations

MBC is an active member of international organizations such as ABU (

Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union The Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU or APBU), formed in 1964, is a non-profit, professional association of broadcasting organisations. It currently has over 287 members in 57 countries and regions, reaching a potential audience of about 3 bil ...

), IATAS (International Academy of Television Arts & Science) and INPUT (

International Public Television Screening Conference International Public Television Screening Conference (INPUT) is an international public television organization dedicated to television as public service and in the public interest. INPUT is dedicated to promoting access to the most honest, innovat ...

), and is affiliated with 21 broadcasters in 13 countries. It is engaged in various global business through overseas corporations in Los Angeles and Shanghai, and bureaus in North America, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East as well as Asia, in close cooperation with major global media groups. MBC is devoted to entering foreign markets and expanding the business area. It maintains a close relationship with foreign buyers by participating in major content markets every year such as MIP-TV, MIPCOM, NATPE, BCWW and ATF. It operates an English website which introduces various MBC content to the overseas buyers and viewers so that they can easily access its content. MBC drama ''What on Earth Is Love?'' is the first Korean Wave drama which sparked the K-drama boom across China, when it was aired on CCTV in 1997. Since then, numerous MBC dramas, entertainment shows, and documentaries have been exported to different countries. The drama ''

Dae Jang Geum ''Dae Jang Geum'' (; literally "The Great Jang-geum"), also known as ''Jewel in the Palace'', is a 2003 South Korean historical drama television series directed by Lee Byung-hoon. It first aired on MBC from September 15, 2003 to March 23, 20 ...

'' was shown in as many as 91 countries around the world. More recently, MBC is widening its content business area by exporting show formats such as ''I Am a Singer'', ''

We Got Married ''We Got Married'' () was a South Korean reality variety show that aired on MBC from 2008 to 2017. The show paired up celebrities who pretended to be married couples and completed various challenges together. The show ran for four seasons and ...

'' and ''

Dad! Where Are We Going? ''Dad! Where Are We Going?'' () was a South Korean reality show featuring five celebrity fathers and their children as they travel to rural places and go on camping missions. The show debuted on MBC on January 6, 2013, as part of the '' Sunday ...

'' to other countries.

Channels

* One terrestrial TV ( MBC TV — channel 11) * Three radio stations: * Five cable (drama, sports, game-show, variety and documentary) * Five satellite (drama, sports, game-show, variety and documentary) * Three terrestrial DMB (TV, radio,

data In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted ...

) * Two satellite DMB (drama, sports)

Logos

File:MBC logo 1961.svg, First logo (used 1961 to 1969) File:MBC logo 1969.svg, Second MBC logo (used 1969 to November 1981) File:MBC logo 1974.svg, Third MBC logo (1974 to November 1981) File:MBC logo 1980.svg, Fourth MBC logo (used April 1980 to November 1981) File:MBC logo 1981.svg, Fifth MBC logo (December 1981 to 1985) File:MBC logo 1986.svg, Sixth MBC logo (1986 to December 2004) File:MBC logo 2005.svg, Seventh MBC logo (3 January 2005 to 31 December 2011) File:Munhwa Broadcasting Company.svg, Eighth MBC logo and current MBC logo (used since 1 January 2012) File:문화방송 한글.png, Korean language logo (used since 1 January 2012)

Headquarters

File:MBC Ilsan Dream Center.JPG, MBC Dream Center located in

Goyang Goyang (''Goyang-si''; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province in the north of South Korea. It is part of the Seoul Capital Area, making Goyang one of Seoul's satellite cities. It is one of the largest cities in the Seoul Capital Area, with a populatio ...

Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi-do (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Its name, ''Gyeonggi'', means "京 (the capital) and 畿 (the surrounding area)". Thus, ''Gyeonggi-do'' can be translated as "Seoul and the surrounding areas of Seoul". Seoul, the na ...

(30 November 2007 – present). File:MBC headquarter buld.jpg, Old MBC headquarters located in

Yeouido Yeouido (Hangul: 여의도, en, Yoi Island or Yeoui Island) is a large island (or eyot) on the Han River in Seoul, South Korea. It is Seoul's main finance and investment banking district. Its 8.4 square kilometers are home to some 30,988 people ...

(17 February 1982 – 3 August 2014). File:1970~1980's MBC Government building.jpg, Old MBC building located in

Jeong-dong Jeong-dong is a legal '' dong'', or neighbourhood of the Jung-gu district in Seoul, South Korea and governed by its administrative dong, Sogong-dong. It is an historical area with Deoksu Palace from the Joseon Dynasty and some of Korea's first m ...

(8 August 1969 – 16 February 1982; now used by