South Korea's National Assembly Legislative Research Service proposed redesigning the universal viewing rights system in the wake of controversy over exclusive Olympic broadcast rights.

In a report published on Tuesday titled "Controversy over exclusive Olympic broadcast rights and the universal viewing rights system in the digital media era," the service said the definition of universal viewing rights under the current Broadcasting Act should explicitly include the phrase "at no additional cost." The aim is to ensure viewers who do not subscribe to pay-TV or OTT services can still watch events of public interest. It also said there is a need to review a plan to assign public broadcasters an obligation to carry coverage when there is no broadcaster seeking to air the event.

Expanding the scope of events of public interest was also cited as a task. The current notice limits 대상 mainly to popular sports in which many citizens take interest, but it said the scope should be broadened to include events in which socially marginalized groups are participants or beneficiaries, such as the Paralympics and matches involving the women's national team, as well as other cultural events.

The report also urged redesigning the current channel-focused system to include online platforms and services. It said service channels should be subdivided into broadcasting rights and digital rights, and that there is a need to review revamp options based on criteria such as the type of event, reach, whether it is free, and priority in coverage rights.

This year's Milan Cortina Winter Olympics was carried exclusively on the pay-TV channel JTBC. It was the first time terrestrial broadcasters did not air Olympic coverage, leaving viewers without pay-TV subscriptions unable to watch the competitions. JTBC has secured exclusive rights through 2032 to broadcast the Summer and Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. If resale talks do not take place, the same situation could be repeated at the North and Central America World Cup in June.

JTBC is a broadcaster that can reach more than 90 percent of households, so it does not violate the current Broadcasting Act. While the law requires securing a means of broadcasting for events of public interest that can be viewed by at least a certain proportion of households, it has no provision requiring that viewing be possible "at no additional cost."

It also took issue with the fact that the notice designating events of public interest (Broadcasting and Media Communications Commission Notice No. 2016-14) has not been revised since it was enacted in 2016.

The National Assembly Legislative Research Service said, "The media environment and matters of public interest can continue to change in the future," and added, "Improvements to related systems should be made while flexibly reviewing the concept and methods of universal viewing rights."