South Korea\'s cable TV industry, facing management difficulties amid the growth of OTT and IPTV, is positioning itself as a partner in the government\'s \"media basic society\" initiative. It pledged to strengthen local residents\' right to know, expand universal media access through a unified \"Everyone\'s TV\" brand for 8VSB services, and narrow the AI gap through local education programmes. The industry also urged regulatory and institutional changes, including over broadcasting development fund levies.

Experts warned that a weakening pay-TV industry could undermine investment in and distribution of K-content, calling for a redefinition of pay-TV’s role as core media infrastructure. At a Seoul seminar, scholars urged shifting regulation from operator-based rules to service-based oversight, expanding autonomy over pricing, products and channel lineups, and strengthening post-hoc enforcement for user protection and fair competition. Speakers also proposed reforms to licensing, mandatory channels and advertising rules.