Traffic Broadcasting (TBS), long at risk of closure, won a conditional three-year license renewal. Regulators also approved rescue measures, including the unusual step of allowing commercial advertising.
At its fifth plenary meeting of 2026 on the 29th, the Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission (BMCC) voted to conditionally renew three-year licenses for 17 stations across three organizations: 14 KBS radio stations, two MBC Gyeongnam radio stations, and the Seoul Metropolitan Media Foundation’s TBS Traffic FM.
All of the stations scored below 650 in the renewal review held on the 10th. After holding hearings, the commission identified shortcomings, reviewed proposed improvement plans and finalized the conditional renewals.
For TBS, the BMCC set several key conditions: the station must carry out the management-normalization plan it presented at the hearing, strengthen and reform its internal oversight to improve fairness, and tighten the handling of donations. In an uncommon move, the commission also authorized TBS to carry commercial advertisements. Officials said the decision reflected TBS’s sharply deteriorated finances after Seoul removed its status as a city-funded institution in 2024 and the station’s argument during hearings that advertising was needed to diversify revenue. The BMCC said it will reassess the advertising permission if TBS’s financial situation changes materially.
The commission ordered KBS to submit tailored improvement plans for each radio station, covering areas such as production and investment.
MBC Gyeongnam was required to submit plans and records showing progress on broadcast evaluation, disaster broadcasting, and radio production and investment.
Kim Jong-chul, chair of the BMCC, said the commission sought to strengthen broadcasters’ public mission and core responsibilities while allowing institutional flexibility to respond to shifting business conditions. He added that the commission will closely monitor compliance with the renewal conditions and will take strict legal action if stations fail to meet them.
In June 2024, the Seoul City Council repealed the ordinance that funded TBS and cut off city grants. On Sept. 11 of that year, Seoul stripped TBS of its status as a city-supported institution, and the station’s license expired at the end of the year. The renewal review was delayed for more than a year because of a vacancy on the commission, leaving TBS broadcasting amid legal uncertainty. The station went through voluntary layoffs, and at times employees continued working without pay.
