Korean broadcaster MBC said it has agreed with Google to provide its TV drama and entertainment programs through YouTube, the world’s largest online video sharing site operated by Google.
MBC and Google Korea heads signed the agreement at a hotel in Seoul on Friday.
Under the agreement, MBC will provide 10,000 hours of dramas and entertainment shows aired before 2005 for YouTube, which will be distributed around the world starting next year, the broadcaster said.
It is the first time a Korean broadcaster is providing such massive content on YouTube, MBC said.
MBC president Kim Jae-chul (left) shakes hands with Google Korea CEO Yeom Dong-hoon after signing a content sharing deal in Seoul, Friday. (MBC)
“We’ve been actively working with K-pop industry officials, entertainment agencies and album producers to help provide K-pop content on YouTube,” said Yeom Dong-hoon, CEO of Google Korea, at a press conference in Seoul.
“We expect that this partnership can boost the Korean Wave one step further, through TV drama and entertainment content,” he said.
The first generation of YouTube was filled mainly with user created content but the second generation will be those provided by professional content providers such as MBC, said Brian Suh, head of YouTube Partnership at Google.
“Rather than providing full content, we will break down the content of a program into short clips and put advertisement between the clips,” Suh said.
MBC president Kim Jae-chul said the broadcaster’s content sales have reached 20 million won this year.
To celebrate the partnership with Google, MBC will push for a K-pop concert at the head office of Google next year and broadcast it live on YouTube worldwide, Kim said.
According to a survey of 204 Korean Twitter users by YouTube, MBC drama series “Eyes of Dawn” topped the list of MBC dramas of the 1990s that the respondents wanted to watch again on YouTube.
Among the programs currently airing, “Infinite Challenge” was the most sought after.
By Kim Yoon-mi (
yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)
