Cable TV: 4 in 10 operators post losses; operating profit plunges 90% in a decade

[Financial News] Four of 10 domestic cable TV operators posted operating losses last year. Nearly 90% of the industry's operating profit has evaporated over the past decade, and its subscriber base has shrunk by 1.86 million. While subscribers and revenue streams are rapidly eroding under pressure from over-the-top media services (OTT) and internet protocol television (IPTV), fixed costs such as maintaining broadcast networks and content fees remain. As the cable TV industry's structural decline has dragged on, calls are growing within the industry for regulatory reform that moves beyond a framework created during its growth phase and includes business restructuring and exit routes.
An analysis on the 6th of the Broadcasting Media and Communications Commission's '2025 Report on the Financial Status of Broadcasting Businesses' found that 35 of the 90 system operators (SOs) posted operating losses last year. That was 38.9% of the total, or about four in 10 SOs.
The industry's overall scale is also shrinking. According to the Korea Cable Television Association (KCTA), the number of SO subscribers fell by 1.86 million, from 13.8 million in 2015 to 11.94 million last year. Over the same period, broadcasting business revenue fell 28%, operating profit 89% and advertising revenue 20%.
The problem is that it is difficult to cut costs in line with declining revenue. A major expense is maintaining broadcast networks. Cable TV's legacy hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network consumes more power and costs more to maintain than the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) networks used for IPTV and cable TV. But service cannot be terminated even if only one subscriber remains, limiting network upgrades. The home-shopping market downturn has also reduced transmission fees, weakening SOs' revenue base.
The burden of the Broadcasting and Communications Development Fund and content costs is also substantial. SOs posted operating profit of just 45.1 billion won last year, but paid 22.9 billion won into the fund. The fund levy on SOs has remained at 1.5% of broadcasting service revenue since 2017. Content-related costs, including program-use fees and terrestrial retransmission fees, also account for as much as 90% of subscription revenue.
Industry representatives say the rules should be revised to allow a gradual transition from HFC to FTTH, and business restructuring—including mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in home shopping—should be encouraged. They also argue that the cost structure should be overhauled by establishing criteria for calculating content payments and easing the burden of the Broadcasting and Communications Development Fund, while exit routes should be created for SOs that are difficult to turn around, such as transferring subscribers to another operator.
An industry representative said, “Cable TV has been in decline for a long time, yet it is still regulated as if it were in its past expansion phase,” adding, “We need to create an environment where competitive operators can continue operating, while also putting a system in place that allows operators that have reached their limits to wind down their businesses while protecting users.”

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