YTN2

YTN2

Type	Cable television network
Country	South Korea
Headquarters	Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul, South Korea
Programming
Language(s)	Korean
Picture format	MPEG4 1080i
Ownership
Owner	YTN Group (Eugene Group)
Key people	Kim Baek (CEO)
History
Launched	1 July 2011; 13 years ago (2011-07-01)
Former names	YTN Weather (2011–2015) YTN Weather & Life (2015–2016) YTN Life (2016–2021)
Links
Website	www.ytn2.co.kr (in Korean)

YTN2 is a South Korean news and lifestyle television channel owned by the YTN Group. It started broadcasting on July 1, 2011, as YTN Weather and has diversified its programming since 2015.

History

Weather forecasts have been a part of YTN since the channel's inception in 1995.^[1] On April 27, 2011, YTN announced that it had concluded the registration with the regulator for a dedicated YTN Weather channel, with its launch scheduled for July. The channel delivered national and international weather in real time, with a national bulletin every ten minutes, as well as theme forecasts related to leisure, wellbeing and daily life. The channel was the first such channel in Korea and was also used to prepare for climate disasters.^[2] The channel launched on July 1, but was facing difficulties at launch due to lack of technical manpower. YTN hired 20 people, including presenters and producers, before its launch, but did not hire additional technical staff.^[3]

On July 1, 2015, YTN renamed the channel as YTN Weather & Life, adding non-weather programming to its line-up.^[4] Among them was LIFE Mania, about Korean lifestyle trends, resorting to Instagrammers due to the rise of the platform in South Korea.^[5] In addition, YTN started providing a simulcast of the channel to the Incheon International Airport to provide weather data in case of delays and bad weather affecting air traffic.^[6]

The channel was renamed YTN Life on January 1, 2017, becoming a lifestyle channel,^[7] then to the current YTN2 on March 1, 2021.^[8]

Programming

YTN2's programming consists primarily of human interest documentaries under the channel's current philosophy, reflected in its current slogan, "Life is News".^[9] Some of its productions, such as Newsmentary: War and People and Y2N, are also repeated on the main YTN channel.^[10]

References

1. "목받는 채널, 눈길끄는 프로 ① 연합TV". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). February 27, 1995.
2. 황, 소영 (April 26, 2011). "24시간 날씨전문채널 'YTN 웨더' 개국". New Daily (in Korean).
3. 조, 수경 (July 7, 2011). "'YTN 웨더뉴스' 개국은 했지만…". Media Today (in Korean).
4. "'YTN 웨더', 'YTN 웨더&라이프'로 새 출발". YTN (in Korean). June 30, 2015.
5. 강, 이슬 (July 8, 2015). "YG케이플러스, YTN 웨더&라이프와 'LIFE 마니아' 방송 선봬". News 2 Day (in Korean).
6. 민, 일녀 (July 14, 2015). "인천공항, 항공기 지연.결항정보 'YTN 웨더&라이프' 실시간 제공". Woman News (in Korean).
7. "YTN 웨더&라이프 채널 장르 변경안내" (in Korean). KCN금강방송. December 19, 2016.
8. "'YTN Life' 채널명 변경 안내". ABN (in Korean). February 19, 2021.
9. "채널소개". YTN2 (in Korean).
10. "YTN '뉴스멘터리-전쟁과 사람' 무삭제 확장판도 공개". Naver News (in Korean). YTN. September 10, 2020.