Ex-KBS anchor Park says freelance income 'far exceeds' old salary

Former KBS announcer Park Eun-young has opened up about her earnings since going freelance.

A video titled "What do you eat after leaving KBS? Lee Ji-yeon and Park Eun-young reveal the reality of being a freelance announcer for the first time" was posted Friday on the YouTube channel "It's Lee Ji-yeon."

That day, Park spoke about her recent activities, noting that people kept asking why she was no longer on TV. "I do home shopping broadcasts," she said.

Park said she was grateful for the home shopping work but still felt a longing for traditional broadcasting. "I'm so thankful to be doing home shopping, but don't we still want to be on broadcast TV?" she said.

She then expressed regret over the changing media landscape. "When I say things like this, people say, 'You're behind the times' or 'Broadcast stations are dying — what era are you living in?'" she said. "Still, that wasn't the era we came up in."

Lee Ji-yeon shared her own frustrations. "These days everyone says, 'Who watches legacy media? You have to go to new media. It's all about YouTube in the end' — but YouTube is saturated too," she said. "There's nowhere to go. But we keep at it anyway."

Park drew attention when she spoke about her income. "Even though it may look like I don't have much work, I'm earning far more than I did on my announcer's salary," she said. "Just one home shopping broadcast alone is enough to say that."

Lee also spoke about the benefits of going freelance, saying she valued being able to manage her own time.

Park then paid Lee a warm compliment. "Sunbae, you're honestly cut out to be an executive — the kind who makes department head and bureau chief," she said.

Meanwhile, Park joined KBS in 2007 as a 33rd-cohort announcer through the network's open recruitment process and went on to appear in various entertainment programs and work as a news anchor. She left KBS in 2020 and has been pursuing a freelance career since.