The Broadcasting Media Communications Commission voted to renew the satellite broadcasting licence of KT Skylife for 7 years.

The commission held its "15th plenary meeting of 2026" on June 5 and reviewed and voted on whether to renew KT Skylife's licence after its previous renewal period expired last year. The review is the first licence renewal review for a pay-TV operator since the commission was launched.

The commission conducted the review in line with the "detailed plan for the renewal of licences for pay-TV operators and approvals for retransmission from overseas" adopted at its first plenary meeting in April. In May, it formed a review panel of 9 experts in broadcasting and media, law, management, economics and accounting, technology and viewers, with standing commissioner Min-su Ko (고민수) as chair, and carried out a closed review.

KT Skylife scored 697.52 points out of 1,000, exceeding the 650-point threshold for renewal.

The renewal conditions were sharply reduced to 5 from 20 conditions and 5 recommendations in the previous period. The commission said it streamlined conditions that could be governed by existing laws or were imposed redundantly and left only core conditions.

The 5 conditions imposed are faithful implementation of the business plan; establishing a subscriber support plan when converting to the HEVC codec within 3 months of the renewal date; strengthening independence and expertise, including having a majority of outside directors on the board; establishing and approving an investment plan to secure the sustainability of satellite broadcasting and submitting performance results every 2 years; and providing one-way satellite broadcasting services to more than 50 percent of all subscribers.

The review panel actively identified quantitative evaluation factors to raise objectivity and transparency. It quantified and reflected performance on business implementation compared with the initial plan and performance compared with the previous renewal period.

Chairman Kim Jong-cheol (김종철) said the commission would continue to rationally improve and operate relevant systems so that the competitiveness of the pay-TV industry and public interest are balanced. He also urged KT Skylife, as the country's only nationwide satellite broadcasting operator, to make every effort to fulfil its core role, including addressing reception blind spots and preparing services in preparation for reunification.