Korea Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) is a South Korean educational television and radio broadcasting group that was established in the 1980s as part of KBS, the country’s flagship public media group. Since then, it has broken away into an autonomous operator.
Media assets
Television: EBS 1, EBS 2, EBS Plus 1, EBS Plus 2, EBS English, EBS Kids
Radio: EBS FM
State Media Matrix Typology: Independent Public (IP)
Ownership and governance
EBS is a public corporation run by a Board of Directors consisting of nine non-executive directors appointed by the Korea Communications Commission, the local media regulator. The Board was established in line with the Korea Education Broadcasting Corporation Act of 1997. The board is regularly evaluated by an independent commission.
Source of funding and budget
EBS is funded mostly from advertising revenues and income from sales of products (such as publications or textbooks). These revenues generate some 80% of the total budget of EBS, the rest coming partly from the license fee (charged for funding public media and shared with KBS) and the government. EBS had a budget of KRW 251bn (US$ 231m) in the fiscal year 2017, according to the latest data available from the company.
Editorial independence
There are no editorial rules imposed by the government on EBS and there is no evidence of government interference in the editorial affairs at EBS moreover, the model of governance in place at EBS was designed with the goal of ensuring the editorial independence of the station.
EBS has an Audience Committee consisting of academics, activists and school teachers (they are replaced every year) whose role is to independently monitor the programming of EBS and communicate with the general audience. The committee sees itself as playing an Ombudsman role.
October 2023