The Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission (BMCC) voted to grant conditional license renewals to radio stations that failed to meet the required score in the renewal review and loosened certain regulations to help some operators stabilize their operations.
On April 29, the BMCC met at the Government Complex in Gwacheon for its fifth plenary session of 2026 and approved three-year conditional renewals for 17 stations across three operators: 14 radio outlets operated by the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), two stations owned by MBC Gyeongnam Co., Ltd., and tbs Traffic FM, run by the Seoul Metropolitan Media Foundation.
Those stations had scored below 650 in the earlier renewal review and were referred for hearings. The BMCC held hearings on April 22 to examine the causes of the shortcomings and to review the operators’ improvement plans before making a final decision.
As conditions of renewal, the BMCC imposed operator-specific improvement tasks, including increased production and investment to bolster public-service obligations and local programming, and measures to secure public value. The commission warned that failure to meet these conditions could result in license revocation.
KBS’s 14 radio stations were required to submit tailored improvement plans that detail expanded production and investment. MBC Gyeongnam’s Jinju and Changwon 2nd FM stations were ordered to provide improvement plans and records of implementation related to broadcast evaluation, disaster broadcasting, and production and investment.
tbs Traffic FM was required to implement a management normalization plan. Key conditions included strengthening its internal review procedures to ensure fairness in broadcasting and enhancing transparency in the handling of donations.
Notably, the BMCC decided to allow commercial advertising on tbs Traffic FM, citing the station’s weakened finances after Seoul revoked its status as a municipal affiliate in 2024 and the hearings’ emphasis on the need to diversify revenue sources.
The commission said it will reassess the advertising authorization if future changes — such as expanded public support — improve the station’s financial position, in order to guard against any damage to its public mission and independence.
Kim Jong-chul, chair of the BMCC, said, “We strengthened broadcasters’ public responsibilities and obligations while building regulatory flexibility so they can respond to changes in the business environment. We will continue to monitor compliance with the renewal conditions and take strict action under relevant laws if operators fail to meet them.”
