Courtesy of KBS

To mark ‘2026 Viewers’ Week,’ KBS has prepared a variety of viewer-centered programs from the 13th to the 17th.

Taking last year’s revision of the Broadcasting Act, which established the legal basis for integrated collection of the license fee, as an opportunity to reaffirm viewer-centered management values, KBS designated April 17 each year as ‘Viewers’ Day.’ It operates Viewers’ Weekthe week that includes ‘Viewers’ Day’to hear a wide range of viewer opinions and to establish institutional mechanisms that can protect viewers’ rights and interests.

◆ At the opening ceremony, presentation of the ‘Citizen Reporter Award’ and the ‘Viewers’ Committee Chair’s Award’

At 2 p.m. on the 13th, at the Viewers’ Plaza at KBS headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, the opening ceremony for ‘2026 Viewers’ Week’ will feature an awards presentation for citizens who contributed to KBS news and program production.

The Grand Prize of the ‘Citizen Reporter Award’ went to In Yong-gu, who provided KBS with diverse on-site footage during the wind turbine fire in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, thereby helping KBS, the designated disaster-relief broadcaster, deliver swift and accurate disaster coverage. In addition, Choi Jong-in, who submitted vivid footage of the endangered Eurasian otter and white-tailed eagle, will receive the Excellence Award, and a contributor who, on ‘Pregnant Women’s Day,’ shared a difficult personal childbirth experience and helped foster social consensus for improving the childcare environment will receive the Merit Award.

Among viewer-produced programs broadcast through ‘KBS Open Channel,’ Bang Joon-sik, producer of ‘Mother! What Is the Color of the Sky?,’ which closely portrays the life and oeuvre of a poet who overcame visual impairment, will receive the Top Excellence Award of the ‘Viewers’ Committee Chair’s Award.’ The Excellence Award will be jointly awarded to Son Ye-eun, producer of ‘To My Everything,’ which sincerely documented the process of making a wheelchair for a companion dog with a disability and drew public attention to protecting the rights of animals with disabilities; and to Lee Yoon-su, producer of ‘Asking the Embers,’ which offered an in-depth analysis of the 2025 Yeongnam-region wildfires and persuasively presented disaster-response measures amid the climate crisis.

Also at the opening ceremony, KBS plans to release a video visualizing AI-driven analyses of viewer feedback submitted to the KBS Viewer Counseling Office over the past five years.

◆ Opening KBS Hall entrances and holding a thank-you concert and a viewers forum

To mark Viewers’ Week, KBS will temporarily open the entrances on the KBS Hall side for two days, from the 13th to the 14th. Embracing the warmth of spring, it aims to turn the KBS Hall plaza into a rest area for viewers and come closer to them.

On the 16th at 7:30 p.m., the KBS Traditional Music Orchestra will present a viewer appreciation concert themed ‘Again, Spring’ at the KBS Art Hall in Yeouido. Participation can be applied for free via the KBS website, with applications accepted until 11 p.m. on the 12th.

On the final day, the 17th, a Viewers Forum will be held under the theme ‘In the AI era, who does public media exist for?,’ hosted by KBS in cooperation with the Korean Society for Broadcasting Studies, the Korean AI Services Society, and the Korean Women’s Communication Association.

At the forum, Kyung Hee University professor Lee Kyung-jeon will present on ‘In the AI era, whose side should public media take?,’ and Dr. Kim Jung-hwan, a KBS producer, will present on ‘In the AI era, how should public media build relationships with viewers?.’ After the presentations, Woo Hyung-jin, vice president of the Korean Society for Broadcasting Studies; Kim Jong-ha, president of the Korean Women’s Communication Association; attorney Koo Tae-eon, a member of the KBS AI Innovation Advisory Committee; and Dr. Yoo Soo-jung of the KBS Media Research Institute will hold a panel discussion.

◆ Hearing from regional viewers through the national convention of the Viewers’ Committee

On the 17th, KBS will also hold the ‘2nd National Convention of the Viewers’ Committee,’ attended by viewers’ committee members from KBS headquarters and 18 regional stations. As the second convention following last year, it will be an occasion for KBS executives and key managers to hear directly from regional viewers and discuss together the future of public media.

KBS Viewers’ Week was first proclaimed in 2020 to commemorate the fact that the 1990 revision of the Broadcasting Act created the basis for operating the ‘Viewers’ Committee.’ On April 17, 2025, as the Broadcasting Act amendment explicitly providing the legal basis for integrated collection of the license fee passed the National Assembly, KBS set April 17 each year as ‘Viewers’ Day’ and has since operated a symbolic week of viewer-centered management around that date.