Korean Variety Show

NM3224 – Culture Industries Jocelin (A0126489R)

Korean Variety Show: The Emerging Force in Korean Entertainment Industry

Introduction

Over the last two decades, Korean entertainment industry has flourished and expanded beyond its territorial boundaries. The term ‘Korean Wave’ or Hallyu (한류) has been utilized to describe the phenomena of Korean cultural products being increasingly sought after by overseas consumers and gaining rapid popularity. The term was initially coined by Chinese journalists as Hanliu (韩流) to signify the emerging popularity of Korean entertainment and culture in China. However, the dissemination of Korean cultural products in various forms such as movies, TV dramas, music (K-pop) as well as food has driven the

Although it is not as prominent as its TV drama counterpart, variety show has recently experienced surge in popularity both in the domestic and global entertainment industry. Therefore, I would analyze the impact of Korean variety shows in shaping Korean entertainment industry and their contributions in propelling the ‘Korean Wave’. In this essay, I would argue that Korean variety shows play an important role in supporting and marketing Korean entertainment industry for the domestic and global market. I would explore the cultural production (creativity), political economy, globalization and digitalization aspects as guidelines to elaborate on the trend and influence of Korean variety shows in the entertainment

Although the production of variety shows is not novel in Korean entertainment history, the recent format of Korean variety shows has brought the genre into limelight. Since the early 2000s, various Korean variety shows emerged and introduced unprecedented concepts to the genre. As variety shows begin to flourish, the producers of these shows have to utilize creative concepts and unique contents to attract and increase viewership. Moreover, the production of variety shows could only be accomplished through the collaboration of major broadcasting companies and individual creative workers. Major broadcasting companies act as the distributor of the shows as well as the final decision maker of whether the shows are worth the investment and the airtime on their networks. Meanwhile, individual creative workers consist of program directors (PDs) who oversee the production of the shows, scriptwriters who create the shows’ contents, individual talents who star in the shows and various other roles that contribute in the production as part of the organization