JTBC has revealed its position on the conflict surrounding ‘Strongest Baseball’.

JTBC stated in an official statement on the 11th, “We are reporting the progress in order to resolve the growing confusion among cast members and viewers regarding the new season of ‘Strongest Baseball’, and to correct some misunderstandings that our company is taking unfair measures.” The statement continued, “We have been discussing the new season with Studio C1 (hereinafter ‘C1’), which produced ‘Strongest Baseball’ Season 3, but we have decided not to produce the new season of ‘Strongest Baseball’ with C1 after determining that the mutual trust relationship has been seriously damaged and that it is difficult to restore it.”

JTBC stated, “We estimate that C1 overcharged us for the production costs for the three seasons of ‘Strongest Baseball’, ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of won.” “C1 set the production cost per episode when signing the ‘Strongest Baseball’ contract based on the production cost of filming one game. However, C1 charged the production cost for two episodes, including the production cost that was not actually spent, as before, even when producing one game in two parts. It appears that C1 charged the production cost twice in this way.” JTBC claimed, “In order to confirm whether the production cost paid to C1 was properly used for the ‘Strongest Baseball’ program, cast, and staff, or whether it was used for other purposes or processed as additional profits for C1, we requested C1 to provide details of the execution of the production cost and supporting documentation, but C1 is not disclosing the relevant data without just cause. C1 is an affiliate in which we hold shares, and JTBC is the owner of the ‘Strongest Baseball’ IP and the business entity that invested all of the production cost. “It is usually incomprehensible for businesses to not disclose the details of cost execution in a contract, and they should have transparently disclosed that the production costs we paid were not used for other purposes, but C1 is ignoring this,” they explained.

They added, “This must have stemmed from their judgment that even if they ignore our requests, we have no choice but to continue broadcasting by paying the production costs requested by C1 in order to keep our promise to the viewers,” and “C1’s actions in this regard can only be described as unfair measures that take advantage of their superior position by using the viewers as bait. Ultimately, we ended Season 3 while enduring these actions by C1.”

JTBC said, “However, we have decided that we can no longer continue our partnership with C1, who does not respond to our legitimate requests, after the end of the 2024 season. “We couldn’t confirm or be certain whether the production cost was being used to make ‘Strongest Baseball’ a better program or whether it was being used properly for the ‘Strongest Monsters’ players and staff, so this was an unavoidable decision,” the company said. “Since we notified C1 of a staff change on February 10, C1 can no longer be involved in the production of ‘Strongest Baseball.’ Furthermore, since we own all copyrights to ‘Strongest Baseball,’ C1 cannot independently produce ‘Strongest Baseball’ season 4. Despite this, C1 attempted to proceed with the tryouts. Accordingly, our company announced the cancellation of the tryouts in order to prevent innocent victims, such as ordinary participants, actors, and staff, from being created during filming that is not guaranteed to be broadcast. However, C1 pushed ahead with the tryouts, and as the confusion between the cast and viewers continued, we are conveying our position this way.”

JTBC said, “We are deeply sorry for causing concern to everyone who has been waiting for ‘Strongest Baseball’ due to unavoidable circumstances. We always put our promise to viewers first, and we promise to return with a newer and more entertaining fourth season of ‘Strongest Baseball.’”

Previously, PD Jang Si-won asserted through his Instagram account that JTBC was unfair in regards to the production and format of the new season of ‘Strongest Baseball.’ However, JTBC stated that it could not proceed with the program, pointing out issues such as the opaque production cost calculation of its affiliate Studio C1. The new season of ‘Strongest Baseball’ is expected to be produced separately by another production company or within JTBC.


● Below is the full text of JTBC‘s official position regarding ‘Strongest Baseball’

We will tell you about the progress of the new season of JTBC’s ‘Strongest Baseball’.

JTBC is reporting on the progress of the new season of ‘Strongest Baseball’ in order to resolve the growing confusion among cast members and viewers regarding the new season of ‘Strongest Baseball’ and to correct some misunderstandings that JTBC is taking unfair measures.

JTBC has been discussing the progress of the new season with Studio C1 (hereinafter ‘C1’), which produced ‘Strongest Baseball’ up to season 3, but has decided not to produce the new season of ‘Strongest Baseball’ with C1 after determining that the mutual trust relationship has been seriously damaged and that it is difficult to restore it.

JTBC has decided not to produce the new season of ‘Strongest Baseball’ with C1. It is estimated that the production costs for the three seasons of ‘Strongest Baseball’ were overcharged by hundreds of millions of won to tens of billions of won.

When signing the ‘Strongest Baseball’ contract, C1 set the production cost per episode based on the production cost required to film one game. However, even when C1 split one game into two parts and produced it, it charged the production cost for two episodes as before, including the production cost that was not actually spent. It appears that C1 double-charged the production cost in this way.

Accordingly, JTBC requested production cost execution details and supporting documentation from C1 in order to confirm whether the production cost paid to C1 was properly used for the ‘Strongest Baseball’ program, cast, and staff, or whether it was used for other purposes or processed as additional profits for C1, but C1 is not disclosing the relevant data without a justifiable reason. C1 is an affiliate of JTBC, and JTBC is the owner of the IP for “Strongest Baseball” and the business entity that invested all of the production costs. It is not normally understandable for a contract between businesses to not disclose the details of cost execution, and it is only right that JTBC should transparently disclose that it did not use the production costs it paid for other purposes, but C1 is ignoring this.

This may have stemmed from the judgment that even if they ignore JTBC’s request, JTBC has no choice but to pay the production costs requested by C1 and continue broadcasting in order to keep its promise to the viewers.

C1’s actions can only be considered unfair measures that take advantage of its superior position by using the viewers as bait. In the end, JTBC accepted C1’s actions and finished Season 3.

However, after the end of the 2024 season, they decided that they could no longer continue their partnership with C1, who did not respond to JTBC’s legitimate requests. This decision was made because we could not confirm or be certain whether the production cost was being used to make ‘Strongest Baseball’ a better program, or whether it was being used properly for the ‘Strongest Monsters’ players and staff.

Since JTBC notified C1 of a production staff change on February 10, C1 can no longer be involved in the production of ‘Strongest Baseball’. Furthermore, since JTBC holds all copyrights to ‘Strongest Baseball’, C1 cannot independently produce ‘Strongest Baseball’ Season 4. Despite this, C1 attempted to proceed with the tryouts. In response, JTBC announced the cancellation of the tryouts in order to prevent innocent victims such as ordinary participants, cast members, and staff members from being created during filming that was not guaranteed to be broadcast. However, C1 pushed ahead with the tryout, and as the confusion between the cast and viewers continued, we are hereby stating our position.

We are deeply sorry for causing concern to everyone who has been waiting for ‘Strongest Baseball’ due to unavoidable circumstances. JTBC always puts its promise to viewers first, and we will return with a newer and more entertaining fourth season of ‘Strongest Baseball’.

Hong Se-young, Donga.com reporter, projecthong@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.