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CNBC Launch 24-hour Korean Language Business News Channel, SBS-CNBC

cnbc.com
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Seoul, 20 January 2010 – CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, in Asia Pacific and SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System) officially launched SBS-CNBC during a ceremony held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Tuesday, January 19, 2010.

The successful launch saw more than 250 VIPs from business and government attending, including Mark Hoffman, President, CNBC and Se Young Yoon, Chairman of SBS.  With top performances, speeches and a preview of what the new 24-hour Korean language business news channel would bring, the event marked the beginning of a long-term collaboration between CNBC and SBS.

"We are very excited to celebrate the launch of the SBS-CNBC channel," said Satpal Brainch, President and Managing Director, CNBC Asia Pacific. "Korea is an important market for CNBC and as our partner, SBS has a clear understanding of both the Korean business news viewer and the CNBC Brand."

SBS-CNBC will focus on Korea’s daily business news, complemented with international coverage from CNBC bureaus around the world.  Key program highlights include:
· Closing Bell-  A look at what’s driving the market during the final hour of trade.
· Mad Money & Mad Money Special- Objective viewpoints on one specific stock through in-depth debates and analysis.
· Night Express-Broadcasts CNBC news, providing closed-captioned subtitles prior to and after the NYSE opens.

"CNBC has long been the number one global brand in financial news & information, but we have never lost sight of the importance of delivering that news with local relevance. That is what SBS-CNBC is all about," Brainch concluded.

For more information on SBS-CNBC, please visit:  http://sbscnbc.sbs.co.kr/

About CNBC Asia Pacific
CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, provides fast, accurate, unbiased, actionable business and financial news to over 370 millions households worldwide. CNBC in Asia Pacific is uniquely positioned to speak to viewers from across the region.  Headquartered in Singapore, the network provides nine hours of live Asia-produced programming, which is complemented with coverage of live market action from Europe and the US. CNBC Asia Pacific's channels, which include CNBC Asia, CNBC-TV18 (India), CNBC Pakistan, Nikkei-CNBC (Japan), SBS-CNBC (South Korea) are available in more than 21 countries across the Asia Pacific region. CNBC also has a strategic alliance with Shanghai Media Group, which wholly owns a subsidiary, China Business Network. The channels are distributed via satellite, cable and terrestrial broadcast networks, as well as broadband. CNBC content is also distributed on the 3G platform through selective markets. For more information, please visit us at http://asia.cnbc.com

About SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System)
SBS, the only private-owned nationwide terrestrial television in South Korea, was established in 1990 and has successfully implemented its position as the “Innovator of the Media Industry” of the nation. In 2008, in order to respond to the media paradigm shift in Korea, the company was transformed to the holdings company system. This new governance system efficiently orchestrates terrestrial channel, pay channel, content production and content distribution, strengthening the competitiveness of the contents and responsibility in management.

As the pioneering network to initiate the HD broadcast in Korea, SBS has maintained the highest level of ratings in various genres such as news, dramas, shows and sports since the foundation. As a way to strengthen the competitiveness of sports broadcast, SBS acquired the exclusive broadcasting rights for Olympics Games and World Cup. SBS has strategic partnership with NTV (Japan), BTV (China), SMEG (China), TF1 (France), TVB (Hong Kong), GTV (Taiwan) and HTV (Vietnam) and operates international bureaus in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Beijing, Paris and Cairo.

Besides the terrestrial channel SBS Media Group operates SBS Plus (Drama / Entertainment), SBS Golf, SBS Sports and E! Entertainment Channel Korea, each recognized as the leader of its genre.

For more information, please visit our website at http://www.sbs.co.kr & http://global.sbs.co.kr