243 channels
South Korean television runs on a split personality: a handful of national over-the-air broadcasters that still set the news agenda, and a sprawling cable universe that produces most of what the country actually talks about. Terrestrial networks anchor the day with morning news blocks, midday serials and a heavily ritualised evening bulletin, where anchors are trusted figures and the lead story usually involves North Korea, the economy or a political scandal. Cable and satellite channels fill the rest, and they invented the Korean format that keeps getting remade abroad: the reality-variety hybrid. Casts of comedians and idols compete, cook, travel and bicker under a soft, family-friendly tone that makes the shows easy to export. Drama is the country's real export engine. Cable series air twice a week in a rigid miniseries rhythm, usually 16 episodes, and they lean darker than their terrestrial cousins. Subtitling is rare on domestic screens; everything imported is dubbed, and Korean audiences expect local voices on foreign animation and films. Sports coverage is thorough but concentrated on domestic league football and baseball, with international tournaments pulling the whole country to a single channel. Home shopping is its own genre here, slick, high-energy and genuinely popular with older viewers. So is trot music programming, a nostalgic counterweight to K-pop. English-language content is largely confined to a few news and movie channels, so the market stays overwhelmingly Korean in tone. Watch South Korea TV online and you get a schedule built for group viewing, not the solo binge.