South Korea's Broadcast Media Communications Committee said on Thursday it selected 23 small and medium-sized companies for the first round of support under its 2026 broadcast advertising production support programme for SMEs and small merchants.

Selected companies will receive support of up to 50 percent of TV advertising production costs, capped at 45 million won. For radio advertising, support will cover up to 70 percent of production costs, capped at 3 million won. The committee will also provide customised consulting. A total of 101 companies applied in the first round. The committee selected 15 companies for TV advertising and 8 for radio advertising after a comprehensive evaluation including eligibility screening, sales, product competitiveness and plans to use broadcast advertising. It plans to select recipients among small merchants in April. The overall scale of support this year is 139 companies, including 25 SMEs and 114 small merchants.

An evaluation of the programme's impact last year showed the average sales of supported companies rose 30.4 percent and average employment increased 10.7 percent. Companies also spent an additional 17.3 billion won of their own funds on broadcast advertising on top of 1.6 billion won in support.

Kim Jong-cheol (김종철), chairman of the Broadcast Media Communications Committee, said he hopes the broadcast advertising support can invigorate SMEs struggling amid an economic downturn and the broadcast advertising market.