Key Summary
- South Korea’s broadcasting and media regulators held the 2026 Next-Generation Media Festival in Seoul on November 11.
- The event focused on how artificial intelligence is reshaping the broadcasting and media industry.
- About 400 people from broadcasting, production, academia, research, and government sectors attended.
- The program included awards, a launch event for a radio audio platform, keynote speeches, strategy sessions, exhibitions, and investment presentations.
- Several AI- and digital-related production and technology examples were introduced, including broadcaster demonstrations and a presentation for an EBS program featuring AI-restored historical figures.
Main Story
South Korea’s media regulators and a state-backed communications agency gathered industry participants in Seoul on November 11 for an event centered on artificial intelligence and the future of broadcasting.
The Broadcasting Media and Communications Commission, led by Chair Kim Jong-cheol, and the Korea Radio Promotion Association, headed by President Lee Sang-hoon, jointly staged the 2026 Next-Generation Media Festival. Organizers said the annual event, now in its 12th year, drew around 400 attendees from broadcasting companies, production firms, academia, research institutions, and the government.
The festival opened with a range of sessions and showcases, including an awards ceremony for broadcast content, the launch event for the K-Global Audio Platform, keynote remarks, a future strategy conference, an equipment exhibition, and a presentation for investment attraction in broadcast content.
During the awards ceremony, five selected works received prizes after review from submissions to a broadcast-content competition. The top honor went to Studio Dragon’s 100 Days of Lies. The article said the winning works were chosen from 224 submissions to an AI- and digital-based production support program, and that they were selected from supported productions aired between October 1, 2025 and November 30, 2026.
Thirteen people who contributed to strengthening the competitiveness of the broadcasting industry received commendations from the commission chair. In addition, MBC production executive director Kim Jin-man received a plaque for contributing to the global competitiveness of Korean broadcast content and the public-interest role of broadcasting.
A separate launch event marked the pilot service release of the K-Global Audio Platform, a project developed jointly by five radio broadcasters: KBS, MBC, SBS, EBS, and CBS. According to the article, the platform is intended to support a renewed push in the domestic radio industry, with future participation expected from regional and smaller stations that lack their own digital infrastructure.
At the keynote session, Lee Seong-ju, chairman of the Korea Broadcasting Association, spoke on the future of K-media in an era being rewritten by AI. In the afternoon, the strategy conference continued in two sessions. One discussed market conditions in broadcasting media and strategies for expanding K-content, including short-form distribution in China and changes in content production driven by AI. The other addressed strategies and challenges for K-audio’s overseas expansion, including AI-era radio possibilities based on metadata and connected cars, cooperation among Korea, China, and Japan, and the current state and development path of Korea’s radio sector.
A talk concert later examined AI use in broadcasting production, drawing on practical examples to review both efficiency gains and problems. A special session also introduced the EBS educational program Hello, Human, which features a production briefing on AI-restored historical figures such as Ahn Jung-geun, Confucius, and Plato delivering what the article described as lessons for modern viewers.
Elsewhere at the venue, organizers held signing ceremonies for two international co-production agreements tied to selected content proposals. The projects China-Korea-Japan Ramen War and Global Bingo Battle, identified as strong proposals discovered through an Asia broadcasting-media exchange in June, signed memorandums of understanding with China’s Maiya Media and Japan’s Media Folpo for co-production and investment cooperation.
An investment briefing was also held for 12 content proposals involving global co-productions and AI application. Additional demonstrations included short-form filming and editing with an AI robot arm, a three-dimensional AI virtual reporter, AI virtual humans, AI-based broadcast archive video search, and automatic editing of K-pop videos. Visitors could also experience an AI photo booth using drama filming locations and costumes.
Commission Chair Kim Jong-cheol said the event should help K-media make a further leap in global markets as AI technology rapidly changes the broadcasting content business from planning to distribution. The commission said it plans to continue supporting the full content cycle, from planning to distribution, to help drive AI-based media innovation.
Background
The supplied text says this festival has been held annually for 12 years and is designed as a venue for sharing technology applications and industry experience. No additional background was provided.
Items Requiring Further Verification
- The article attributes several policy and market expectations to organizers and speakers, including future expansion plans for the K-Global Audio Platform and global growth prospects for K-media.
- The reported selection process for the award-winning works includes a date range that appears unusually future-dated relative to the event and should be independently checked.
- The claims about AI-restored historical figures appearing in the EBS program, and the specific examples cited, are based on a production briefing rather than independently documented outcomes.
- The effectiveness, market impact, and international success of the showcased technologies and co-production agreements are presented as forward-looking or promotional statements and require verification.