KBS1

---

title: "KBS1" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["television-channels-in-south-korea", "korean-language-television-stations", "korean-broadcasting-system-television-networks", "television-channels-and-stations-established-in-1961", "1961-establishments-in-south-korea"] description: "South Korean public television channel" topic_path: "geography/south-korea" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KBS1" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary South Korean public television channel ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox television channel"]

Field	Value
name	KBS 1TV
logo	KBS 1 logo.svg
logo_size	200px
launch_date
picture_format	2160p UHDTV
(downscaled to 1080i and 480i for the HDTV and SDTV feeds respectively)
network	Korean Broadcasting System
owner	Korean Broadcasting System
sister_channels	KBS2
KBS NEWS 24
country	South Korea
language	Korean
former_names	KBS TV (1961–1980)
website
terr_serv_1	Digital terrestrial television
terr_chan_1	Channel 9.1
online_serv_1	KBS
online_chan_1	Watch live
(South Korea only)
::

| name = KBS 1TV | logo = KBS 1 logo.svg | logo_size = 200px | logo_caption = | logo_alt = | image = | established = | airdate = | launch_date = | closed_date = | picture_format = 2160p UHDTV (downscaled to 1080i and 480i for the HDTV and SDTV feeds respectively) | network = Korean Broadcasting System | owner = Korean Broadcasting System | sister_channels = KBS2 KBS NEWS 24 | parent = | key_people = | motto = | country = South Korea | language = Korean | area = | affiliates = | headquarters = | former_names = KBS TV (1961–1980) | replaced = | replaced_by = | timeshift_service = | website = | terr_serv_1 = Digital terrestrial television | terr_chan_1 = Channel 9.1 | sat_radio_chan_1 = | online_serv_1 = KBS | online_chan_1 = Watch live (South Korea only)

KBS 1TV is a South Korean free-to-air television channel that launched on 31 December 1961 and is owned by Korean Broadcasting System. The channel offers more serious programming than its sister channel KBS2, and airs with no commercials.

History

KBS1 was not the first television channel in South Korea. DBC (Daehan Broadcasting) was established on May 12, 1956 and aired to a limited television audience. The channel was owned by the Korean RCA Distribution Company (KORCAD) and initially took on its name, as well as the call sign HLKZ TV. The station broadcast on the same frequency KBS1 would later operate on in Seoul. An audience of hundreds of viewers watched the inaugural broadcast on 32 television sets installed in street corners, 25 in newspaper buildings and on school playgrounds throughout Seoul. It was the only television station in Korea before the start of AFKN TV on September 15, 1957.

On February 2, 1959, a fire broke out at the DBC facilities, causing the station to go off the air.

The government took over the station and KBS TV started in its place on December 31, 1961, though it was initially scheduled for 1962. It was determined that KBS TV would broadcast 4 1/2 hours a day, from 6pm to 10:30pm. By 1964, it was broadcasting from 5:30pm to midnight.

In December 1962, it was announced that commercial advertising would be introduced on KBS and on Korean television as a whole from January 1, 1963, but KBS refrained from carrying commercial advertising from May 1, 1969, after a decision made three weeks earlier. As of February 1976, it also had a UHF relay station in Seoul on channel 55.

In 1980, after the shutdown of TBC and its integration with KBS, the channel was renamed KBS1. The channel absorbed most of TBC's programs, including its last drama, Daldongne. Commercial advertising was reintroduced on its networks on March 7, 1981. Commercial breaks were removed on weekdays in 1990, but the ad revenue for the channel, especially for sports broadcasts, increased. They were again removed from the channel on October 1, 1994.

Following the introduction of cable television networks in South Korea in the early 90s, KBS1 was included in the must-carry package, which initially excluded the commercial channels MBC and SBS.

KBS1 started digital terrestrial broadcasts on November 5, 2001, with the LCN fixed at 9. After government approval, KBS1 started 24-hour broadcasts on October 8, 2012.

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by the Korean Broadcasting System

The main news programs are KBS News Plaza (morning, inherited from TBC), KBS News 12 and KBS News 9.

Network

Analog network (shut down in 2012):

• Yeosu: channel 4
• Seoul: channel 5 (relay)
• Ulsan: channel 5
• Changwon: channel 6
• Daejeon: channel 6
• Jeonju: channel 7
• Daegu: channel 8
• Chuncheon: channel 8
• Seoul: channel 9 (main)
• Busan: channel 9
• Gangneung: channel 9
• Jinju: channel 10
• Cheongju: channel 10
• Wonju: channel 10
• Gwangju: channel 11
• Andong: channel 12
• Chungju: channel 12
• Jeju: channel 12
• Pohang: channel 13
• Mokpo: channel 27

References

References

1. "Channel Info". KBS English.
2. "The rise & fall of the K-drama empire".
3. "SOUTH KOREA - the Museum of Broadcast Communications".
4. (14 May 1956). "T.V. IN S KOREA". Indian Daily Mail.
5. (16 September 1957). "Military TV". Straits Times.
6. (3 February 1959). "TV STUDIO BURNT". Singapore Standard.
7. (November 8, 1961). "工事(공사)서두는 TV放送局(방송국)". Naver News Library.
8. (1994). "Broadcasting in Korea". Nanam Publishing House.
9. link. (1 January 2021 [[Dong-A Ilbo]]，17 December 1962,，p. 5)
10. link. (1 January 2021 [[Dong-A Ilbo]]，12 April 1969，p. 7)
11. (1976). "Electronic Catalog(전자 카탈로그)". Korea Electric Association.
12. (November 27, 1980). "기존TBC－TV프로 최대한 살려". [[Maeil Business Daily]].
13. (December 2024)
14. (September 26, 1990). "KBS 광고의존율 73% 한국방송공사 상반기 경영분석". Naver News Library.
15. (1992). "A Study of the Government Cable Tv Policy in Korea in Comparison with the Government Cable Tv Policy in France".
16. link. (1 January 2021 ([[Yonhap News Agency]]), 25 October 2001)
17. (September 29, 2012). "10월 8일부터 KBS1 24시간 방송". Break News.
18. [https://news.kbs.co.kr/news/pc/program/program.do?bcd=0004 뉴스광장 1부] . KBS. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
19. [https://news.kbs.co.kr/news/pc/program/program.do?bcd=0009 뉴스 12] . KBS. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
20. [https://news.kbs.co.kr/news/pc/program/program.do?bcd=0001 뉴스 9]. KBS. Retrieved 28 June 2024
21. 2005 World Radio and Television Handbook, page 651

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