Korea New Network

KNN was established in 1994 as Pusan Broadcasting Corporation (PSB), launched broadcasting in 1995, and renamed to its current name in 2006 before listing on KOSDAQ in 2010.

The company is one of nine regional affiliate broadcasters that, together with SBS, form a nationwide television network, and TV and radio advertising revenue accounts for the overwhelming majority of sales.

Its business is organized into a broadcasting segment (TV and radio advertising) and an other-business segment covering content sales, sponsorship, cultural events, and real estate leasing and management, with the latter segment's contribution gradually expanding in recent years.

Past disclosures have identified a group-affiliated content distributor as a customer accounting for more than 10% of consolidated revenue, underscoring the structural linkage between KNN's revenue base and the wider SBS network.

The company's headquarters are located at KNN Tower in Busan's Centum City, a mixed-use media complex completed in 2012 that also generates leasing income as part of the other-business segment. On the radio side, KNN operates two FM channels, Power FM and Love FM, serving the Busan-Gyeongnam region and adjacent areas.

Within the regional terrestrial broadcasting industry, KNN ranks among the larger players by revenue in the southeastern region, but nationally it competes for advertising budgets against digital and OTT platforms in a structurally challenging environment.

As a broadcaster licensed under the Broadcasting Act, the company is reported to carry a relatively favorable corporate credit rating, and its regional focus has historically translated into modest revenue growth paired with steady cash generation.

Consolidated revenue in 2025 was KRW 68.507bn, down a modest 0.5% from KRW 68.853bn in 2024, while operating profit fell 29.2% year over year to KRW 3.194bn from KRW 4.513bn.

In contrast, net income attributable to owners rose 39.3% to KRW 11.225bn from KRW 8.057bn, as an increase in non-operating income, including financial income, offset the decline in broadcast advertising revenue.

Over the past four years the operating margin has steadily narrowed, from 10.2% in 2022 to 9.2% in 2023, 6.6% in 2024, and 4.7% in 2025, reflecting the cumulative impact of a weakening advertising market.

On a quarterly basis, revenue of KRW 17.349bn, operating profit of KRW 1.806bn and net income of KRW 2.629bn in Q3 2025 were followed by a seasonally stronger Q4 2025 with revenue of KRW 23.472bn, operating profit of KRW 0.598bn and net income of KRW 5.748bn; Q1 2026 revenue then fell to KRW 13.057bn with an operating loss of KRW 87mn, yet net income still reached KRW 6.838bn.

Q2 2026 saw revenue of KRW 14.151bn and operating profit recover modestly to KRW 0.984bn, while net income surged further to KRW 18.903bn, widening the gap between operating results and reported net income in the most recent quarters.

Across the trailing four quarters from Q3 2025 through Q2 2026, cumulative operating profit was roughly KRW 3.3bn while net income attributable to owners over the same window totaled about KRW 34.1bn, indicating that a substantial share of net income in this window originated outside the core broadcasting business.

On the balance sheet, the debt ratio has stayed below 10% every year, at 7.5% in 2022, 6.8% in 2023, 7.2% in 2024 and 7.8% in 2025, while operating cash flow expanded steadily from KRW 2.675bn in 2022 to KRW 17.633bn in 2025, pointing to improved cash generation.

South Korea's terrestrial broadcasting advertising market remains in a broad downturn, and KNN itself attributed its 2025 decline in advertising revenue directly to this slump in its own disclosure.

Regional broadcasters as a group face a dual pressure from population decline and the ongoing shift of viewing habits toward digital platforms, and the Busan-Gyeongnam region in particular has experienced a more pronounced population decline than the national average, amplifying the impact of advertiser budget cuts.

Within the nine-member regional affiliate network anchored by SBS, KNN ranks among the larger players in the southeastern region by revenue, but the entire network is exposed to a similar advertising slowdown, limiting the scope for company-specific differentiation.

The heavy reliance on advertising revenue makes the business cyclically sensitive, and the ongoing migration of ad budgets toward YouTube, OTT and other digital platforms functions as a structural headwind.

On the other hand, content licensing to domestic and overseas cable channels, sponsorship-driven cultural and exhibition businesses, and leasing income from KNN Tower serve as complementary revenue channels that partially offset advertising dependence.

A recovery in the broader business environment hinges largely on a nationwide rebound in terrestrial advertising demand, an external variable that is difficult for any individual regional broadcaster to control on its own.

On April 23, 2026, the board resolved a 10-for-1 consolidation of common shares, with the stated purpose being to stabilize the share price and enhance corporate value.

The process was completed through approval at an extraordinary general meeting on June 4, 2026, a trading halt from July 3 to July 27, the new shares taking effect on July 7, and relisting on July 28, 2026, adjusting shares outstanding from approximately 132.4 million to 13,242,972.

The company stated that this consolidation preserves corporate value and does not constitute a capital reduction.

At the regular general meeting on March 24, 2026, shareholders approved the 32nd fiscal year financial statements along with a cash dividend of KRW 25 per common share on a pre-consolidation basis, with an approval rate of 59.6% of total shares outstanding.

On the core broadcasting side, no new channel launches or major capacity expansions have been identified, and future results are likely to hinge on the trajectory of the nationwide terrestrial advertising market and on whether recent non-operating financial income continues.

The modest recovery in operating profit in Q2 2026 following an operating loss in Q1 2026 could reflect seasonality or cost management effects beyond advertising revenue, though the specific drivers have not yet been disclosed in detail.