CJ ENM’s tvN channel said it will run a Chuseok holiday block of special reruns and a two-night variety marathon after finishing delays on two TVING-first dramas slipped their linear premieres by one week. The network is keeping advertisers whole with bonus spots in the rerun package, but the schedule change underscores how streaming-first pipelines still lean on broadcast slots for marketing reach in Korea.
What airs when
From Sept. 21 through Sept. 24, primetime carries encore episodes of last season’s top-rated romance and a condensed “best scenes” cut of a Friday-Saturday thriller that originally aired in spring. A live Chuseok special hosted by tvN’s travel crew fills the Sept. 23 slot that had been reserved for episode one of a co-produced fantasy series. CJ ENM told trade press the fantasy show’s VFX vendor missed a color-grade deadline after a typhoon-related power blip at a Pangyo render farm—not a creative reset, but enough to miss the holiday premiere window sponsors bought months ago.
TVING will still drop both delayed originals on schedule for subscribers, with episodes one and two arriving Sept. 28 instead of Sept. 21. Linear tvN will simulcast episode one a week later on Oct. 5 with a 90-minute premiere, a pattern CJ used for other hybrid titles when catch-up viewing mattered more than same-night ratings.
Who paid for the window
Holiday packages sold to automotive and soju brands assumed family co-viewing after ancestral rites. Reruns deliver reach but not the watercooler moment agencies pitch in upfront decks. CJ ENM’s sales arm said it offered 15 percent make-good inventory in October prime and early access to a music-award clip show rather than cash rebates—a typical Korean broadcast compromise when live sports or holidays collide with post schedules.
Seoyeon Jung’s lens: the audience still gets content, but the industry economics are about which platform owns the first week. TVING exclusivity contracts for one of the delayed dramas require a seven-day streaming lead before free TV; moving linear back a week keeps that clause intact while annoying advertisers who bought the earlier date.
Ratings and production risk
Nielsen Korea holiday weeks often favor familiar reruns over risky premieres; tvN’s 2024 Chuseok encore block averaged a modest lift among 20–49 viewers compared with regular weeks. Still, production insurers and completion guarantors watch slip days because Korean crews stack back-to-back seasons with little slack. CJ ENM said neither delayed show halted filming; only post houses slipped.
What viewers should expect
TVING profiles will show countdown tiles for the Sept. 28 drop; tvN’s electronic program guide already lists rerun footnotes in red. Cable operators must push updated metadata so DVRs do not record stale episode numbers—a recurring Chuseok headache when grids change inside the seven-day guide window.
For CJ ENM, the week is a reminder that streaming-first does not mean broadcast-optional in Korea. For viewers traveling to provinces with spotty fiber, the rerun block may be the only reliable appointment TV until the delayed premieres land—with ads already paid for, whether the episode is new or not.
