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An Inquiry into Concerning the Business Structure of K-pop Broadcasting Programs: Categorizing and Analyzing Audition and Competing Programs and Deriving Business Strategy, with Managerial and Legal Understanding

SeungBum Kim1 · Hosang Shin2

1 Chung-Ang University, 2 Seoul School of Integrated Sciences and Technologies

Published: January 2025 · Vol. 29, No. 2 · pp. 85-105

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17287/kbr.2025.29.2.85

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Abstract

The global popularity of K-pop has led to an explosion of research on K-pop. Including the physical foundation of K-pop supply, or the character as media content, music broadcasting is generally studied in the field of media and broadcasting content research. However, the study from the perspective of management, e.g., the impact of product attributes of music broadcasting on sales, is limited. In this circumstance, this study attempts to understand music broadcasting from a managerial perspective. By explaining music broadcasting as a symbiosis between the music industry and the media industry, this study shows that it has a unique character that is distinguished from others, such as dramas and news, because it shares each character. To explain this, this study analyzes its characteristics in public media from a managerial and legal perspective. First, simply reviewing the history of Korean music broadcasting to explain the role and status of music broadcasting as a symbiosis. Through this, it was revealed that music broadcasting is structurally divided into two types: flat music broadcasting, which has a one-way characteristic on monism and linear structure, and dimensional music broadcasting, which has an interactive characteristic on pluralism and complex structure; and that music broadcasting has been dominated by dimensional in the last 20 years. Second, the structural characteristics of dimensional music broadcasting are inversely related to the content of its two pillars: singing skills and personal stories. Based on this, dimensional music broadcasting is classified into four categories: audition programs, independent competing programs, relative competing programs, and hybrid competing programs. Third, through the analysis of the viewing rate of their representative programs, such as “Superstar K,” “Mr. Trot,” “Star Audition – The Great Birth,” “I Am a Singer,” “King of Mask Singer,” “Romantic Call Centre,” and “Sing Again,” this study derives insights into the production, operation, and revenue strategies of them. In addition, this study presents the practical findings for sales and marketing strategies for media advertising. This study aims to make an academic contribution in that it shows the role of physical media in the commercial success of K-pop, despite the lack of research on this topic, and provides a path to managerial insights by studying the combination of content and physicality, which, in turn, can be used in practice to contribute to the commercial achievement of K-pop and the global dissemination of K-content.
Keywords: 경연 프로그램법적 이해오디션 프로그램입체적 음악방송K-pop