Broadcasters pull out all stops for election results coverage
Broadcasters vie for viewership, with high-profile panelists, dynamic visuals and proprietary voting prediction systems
South Korea's major broadcasters went all-out for their live coverage of the June 3 presidential election, delivering eight-hour marathon programming that combined high-profile panel discussions and broadcasts with state-of-the-art generative AI.
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation, which led the viewership rating during April's general election, returned with an impressive setup for "Election 2025." The network unveiled the largest LED screen ever used in Korean election broadcasting for displaying election results, expanding from a four-panel display to a six-panel display. Ceiling-mounted wire cameras provided sweeping shots of the studio for dynamic footage.
'Debate M,' a segment of the MBC's election coverage, featured a lineup of prominent figures including author Yoo Si-min, former Korea Economic Daily editor-in-chief Chung Kyoo-jae, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Park Joo-min and People Power Party lawmaker Cho Kyung-tae. The panel discussed election dynamics and offered insights into the country's political future.
Seoul Broadcasting System has stood out in past elections with its eye-popping graphics that heavily reference popular culture. This year, it leaned into spectacle with a 'Squid Game'-inspired segment in its election coverage program, "2025 People's Vote" (translated). Computer-generated presidential candidates, wearing tracksuits reminiscent of those in "Squid Game," were shown competing in traditional Korean games to depict the race to win the election.
SBS also debuted Korea's first extended reality live talk show as part of its election coverage. The segment, titled 'Sseoltongryeong,' changed the filming studio into a fully rendered 3D environment that transported talk show guests to digitally recreated locations such as the National Assembly and the presidential office.
Guests on the talk show included younger voices such as YouTuber Oh Chang-seok, host of YouTube political satire-comedy channel "President Namcheon-dong"; Park Sung-min, a former youth secretary at the Blue House; and Park Min-young, a People Power Party spokesperson.
Korean Broadcasting System turned to generative AI for its coverage titled "Vote That Changes My Life" (translated) -- a first for the national broadcaster. Images depicting cities that were hotbeds of democratization movements and industrial landmarks served as a backdrop to the broadcast announcing the election results, with the network also operating from a dedicated studio for panel talks at the 'K-Cube,' located in Gwanghwamun, Seoul.
KBS' analysis segment assembled a diverse panel of politicians and political pundits including Democratic Party members Lee So-young and Kim Sang-wook, People Power Party's Kim Jae-seop, Reform Party's Chun Ha-ram and former JoongAng Ilbo editorial writer Kim Jin.
According to Lee Min-young, head of KBS' Election Broadcast Planning Team, this year's coverage took on a more grounded tone. "Given that this election follows a presidential impeachment, we prioritized the public's call for democracy and a sense of returning to normalcy over celebration,' she said via KBS' press coverage of its election broadcast.
Each broadcaster also highlighted its proprietary vote prediction system. MBC utilized its own prediction system which integrated exit polls, historical data and live vote counts to forecast results, while SBS deployed 'Yoo-Hwak-Dang,' combining early exit polling with ongoing vote updates to calculate winning probabilities. Meanwhile, KBS used 'Decision K+,' a system that tracked candidate performance in real-time and categorized their chances of victory as 'likely,' 'certain,' or 'elected.'
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