[Digital Today, reporter Jin-ho Lee] Comprehensive programming channels Channel A and MBN received corrective orders from the Broadcasting Media Communications Commission for violating conditions imposed at the time of their broadcast reapprovals.

The commission held its 46th plenary meeting on Oct. 28 and approved an agenda item on corrective orders and related measures for comprehensive programming channel operators that violated reapproval conditions.

Channel A was required, at the time of its 2024 reapproval, to appoint outside directors and an auditor as independent figures not related to its largest shareholder. Channel A violated the condition by having its chief executive also serve as a member of the audit committee.

Channel A argued that, under the Commercial Act, an auditor and an audit committee member are distinct. The commission judged that the audit committee also plays a management oversight role and that the CEO's concurrent role does not fit the purpose of the reapproval condition. Channel A must correct the issue by the first half of 2027.

MBN received a corrective order for failing to implement 3 items in its business plan submitted to enhance public responsibility and fairness in broadcasting. The unfulfilled items include airing a main news fact-checking segment at least twice a month, verifying election policies and pledges, and creating a viewer feedback section on its website.

MBN said disruptions to some plans occurred after the Seoul National University FactCheck Center ceased operations. It said it has supplemented unfulfilled items this year, including airing the fact-checking segment and opening a viewer feedback section. The commission said a corrective order was needed because the reapproval conditions were not complied with.

The commission also received a draft plan to establish guidelines for discovering and fostering products from small and medium-sized enterprises to support home shopping operators in discovering SME products and expanding sales channels. It would allow an 8 percentage point cut in the product programming ratio for operators that submit SME support plans, with an additional 2 percentage point cut possible if support performance is strong.

It also received a draft revision to legal standards that would ease the mandatory proportion of the data area on the first screen of data home shopping from the current 50 percent or more to 25 percent or more.

In addition, it was briefed on a plan to tighten the threshold for launching a fact-finding probe into practices restricting the deletion of floating ads from the current standard of 2 detections to 1 detection, and on a draft revision to a public notice to add YTN DMB as a newly supported target for bundled sales of broadcast advertising.