Companies Broadcasting Live Summit Coverage Enjoy Huge Audiences

Those broadcast companies showing live coverage of President Kim and North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il meeting for the first time at Sunan Airport in Pyongyang enjoyed an almost three-fold increase in normal ratings.

According to TNS Media Korea, an audience survey company, the aggregate audience-share of those tuning in to KBS1, MBC and SBS was a whopping 30 percent on June 13th from 10:20am to 11:20am. Average combined audience-share for these three broadcaster at this time is usually only 13.9 percent.

An audience-share breakdown by broadcaster showed KBS1 with an 11.1 percent audience-share followed by MBC with 8.7 percent and SBS with 3.1 percent.

These numbers are expected to be less than the actual number of viewers with those watching outside of the home i.e. at the office or in public areas, not included in the TNS survey.

Also, the total audience-share for these three broadcast companies during their evening broadcasts on June 14th showing the landmark signing of a political and economic agreement by both Korean leaders was 26.4 percent.

by Yi Hu-nam