Broadcaster Jeon Hyun-moo (left) and commentator Lee Young-pyo. [Yonhap]
Broadcaster Jeon Hyun-moo (left) and commentator Lee Young-pyo. [Yonhap]

KBS topped all channels with a peak per-minute rating of 15.3% for its live broadcast of South Korea's 2026 FIFA World Cup match against South Africa, marking the first time broadcaster Jeon Hyun-moo and commentator Lee Young-pyo paired up in the booth.

Nielsen Korea data released Friday showed KBS 2TV drew an average nationwide daily rating of 10.7% for the Group A third-round match, which aired live Thursday morning at 10 a.m. Korea Standard Time. JTBC recorded 7.0% among paid-cable households nationwide.

The 15.3% peak per-minute rating was the highest of any channel for the entire day. KBS 2TV held the ratings lead from kickoff to the final whistle, with its gap over JTBC widening to as much as 6.4 percentage points at 11:26 a.m. At that moment, KBS drew a peak of 3.38 million viewers per minute — the most of any channel that day — compared with JTBC's peak of 2.28 million, a difference of 1.1 million viewers.

KBS outrated JTBC in all three of South Korea's group-stage matches. The June 12 morning broadcast of the Group A first-round match between South Korea and the Czech Republic drew 8.5% on KBS 2TV and 5.7% on JTBC. The second-round match between South Korea and Mexico, broadcast live on the morning of June 19, drew 10.9% on KBS 2TV and 6.8% on JTBC.

South Korea lost to South Africa 1-0 on Thursday, dropping to third place in Group A with a record of one win and two losses for three points. The team can still advance to the round of 32 if it finishes among the top eight third-place teams across all groups, depending on results in remaining matches in other groups.


min3654@heraldcorp.com