Recovery of Business Affects TV Audiences

The recovery of the economy seems to affect TV audiences ratings.
According to data compiled by Media Services Korea, the audience research company, Houses Using TV rate(HUT) which totals the audiences of 5 broadcasting channels dropped to 44.3 percent as of last April from 47.5 percent as of April 1998. This figure is similar to the level of 44.3 percent as of April 1997, before economic crisis.
After the crisis, HUT rose higher than the year before and the annalists said that people watched TV more frequently due to income reduction.
The reduced figure from last year is only 3 percent but it means 300,000 more families leave TV to do other activities compared to last year.
Notably, HUT dropped more in the weekend(3.8 percent) than weekdays(2.6 percent). This shows people escape from TV more in the weekend, probably to participate in outdoor activities.
Jooan Kang : jooan@joongang.co.kr