JTBC, which has filed for court receivership, has rebutted speculation that its broadcast of the "2026 World Cup" in North and Central America could be halted, saying there would be "no disruption through the final."
In an official statement Wednesday, JTBC said, "We plan to broadcast the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America without any disruption all the way through the final." It added, "We will vividly deliver the World Cup scene, including the matches of the South Korean national team as well as the end of the tournament," and said, "We hope there will be no confusion due to incorrect information."
JNN, a media outlet affiliated with Japan's TBS, reported the previous day, "It has been confirmed that JTBC has not yet paid part of the broadcast rights fee to FIFA," and that "if the broadcast rights fee is not paid within the deadline, the possibility has been raised that the broadcast of the tournament matches starting on the 29th in South Korea could be halted." JTBC, which had earlier secured exclusive broadcast rights for the 2026-2032 Winter and Summer Olympics and the 2026-2030 World Cups, finalized a joint broadcast of the North and Central America World Cup with KBS in April.
However, after JTBC failed to repay 20.6 billion won in securitization borrowings at maturity on the 12th, JoongAng Holdings, Contentree JoongAng, JoongAng P&I and Megabox JoongAng successively filed to begin receivership proceedings on the 14th, and JTBC filed for receivership the following day.
