Programming linked to product sales: MBC ranks first in number of crackdowns for three consecutive years, sparking controversy in Korea

Cho In-cheol, a member of the Science, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee of the Democratic Party, said that based on materials submitted by the Korea Communications Committee, "cooperative programming" between TV stations and TV shopping channels is necessary.
The results showed that MBC (298 cases) and TV Chosun (733 cases) had the most cases of violations among terrestrial and general channels.
Cho said, "They take TV stations' schedules into consideration and sell related products unilaterally in a similar time slot on TV shopping channels.
"Joint programming is a problem, but the fact that broadcasting is being used as a business tool through prior discussions between broadcasting stations and TV shopping channels is an even bigger problem."
According to a survey of collaborative programming conducted over the past three years, KBS1, KBS2, and EBS did not have such programming, while MBC was the only terrestrial broadcaster.
The five companies accounted for 298 out of 433 cases, or about 70%. In fact, MBC aired a program about glutathione on May 1, 2023, but on the same day,
The White Glutathione 40 and The White Glutathione Max were also sold by the company. Rep. Cho said, "We will investigate the collusion between TV stations and TV shopping companies.
"It is necessary to take thorough measures to prevent broadcasting from being abused as a means of making profits," he said.