Experiencing Studio Audience in Korea

Have you ever seen people who are called ‘studio audience’, while you are watching a TV program? Those people are not actors or singers. They are audience who provide applause and laughter to the program’s soundtrack. When I first saw them on one TV program, I thought ‘I really want to go to a TV network and meet entertainers like them’. So, for people who think like me, I would like to explain how to apply for studio audience in Korea and my experience as a studio audience.

Before you apply for studio audience, there are two mediums you can consider. One is TV. And the other one is radio. Each medium has its own characteristics. In the case of TV, the studio is quite big, so a capacity crowd of most TV studio is around 500 people. When recording the broadcast like comedy program, over 400 people visit the TV studio. And the recording takes over 3 hours. Recently, ‘Comedy Big Leauge(코미디빅리그)’ of TVN and ‘King of Mask Singer(복면가왕)’ of MBC are popular, so lots of people apply for studio audience of those programs. In the case of radio, a recording studio is small and studio audience is usually limited to 30 people. So I think people who want to see entertainers up-close had better apply for studio audience of radio station. And you can take a picture with a radio host individually, after the radio recording ends. ‘Cultwo show(2시 탈출 컬투쇼)’ where lots of famous singers visit to promote their songs is the most famous radio program in Korea. If you are a huge fan of idol groups or singers, apply studio audience of this program!

To apply for studio audience, you should join TV networks’ websites first. As far as I know, ‘People looking for smiles(웃찾사)’, is the only program that people can apply studio audience without joining the program’s website. In the case of channel ‘tvN’, you can log in their website using Facebook or Twitter account. Except these sites, you have to join TV networks’ websites to apply studio audience. First, you have to access the TV network’s site that has a program you want to apply. Next, find ‘회원가입’, which means ‘join button’ in English and click ‘국내거주 외국인 회원(=foreigner who live in Korea)‘ button. And fill out personal information. Then process of signing up ends. Compared to signing up process, applying for studio audience is simple. Click ‘방청신청(In English, this word means ‘applying for studio audience’) and choose the date you want. Often, you have to write why you want to join studio audience. But you don’t need to feel obligated to write logical or much reasons, because this is not important in my experience. Whether you can join studio audience or not depends on pure luck. There is nothing you can do except keeping your finger crossed. In my case, I got several chances to join studio audience. I visited ‘Gag Concert(개그콘서트)’, ‘People looking for smiles(웃찾사)’, ‘Yu Hee-yeol’s Sketchbook(유희열의 스케치북)‘ and so on.

There are certain charms that only studio audience can feel. First, you can see everything that happens in a studio. What people watch through TV is mostly edited broadcast. However, studio audience can see the original, unedited broadcast, including bloopers and deleted scenes. Second, you can meet entertainers like singers, actors and comedians. At last, you can receive special gifts or souvenirs before or after filming of the show.

And there is a one thing that I want to tell for people who want to be on TV. Before sitting down, check where camera is. There are assigned seats that most cameras capture. So you can be caught on camera, if you sit in those seats.

Till now, I explained how you apply for studio audience in Korea and told what I felt after joining studio audience. I hope you experience various activities like this as much as you can, while you are in Korea!

Article by Hyunyoung from Korea