Reporting from Seoul — Lee Suk-hee can stomach much of the belt-tightening that South Korea's gasping economy has asked of her, including fewer shopping sprees and more nights eating dinner at home.
But here's where the 47-year-old homemaker draws the line: Don't try to take away the free reality TV she watches on her cellphone while riding the subway every day.
"I bought this cellphone to watch television," she said during one recent underground trip. "I'd feel really bad if it went away."
It may. Reeling from declining ad revenue and mounting debt from providing the expensive service at no additional cost to subscribers, South Korean cellular operators may soon cancel subway TV coverage that has yet to turn a profit.
Losing underground TV reception may not seem like much to consumers in the U.S., where many are still struggling with cellular dead zones and where a switch to full above-ground digital TV service may leave millions staring at useless analog sets.
But for many South Koreans, subway TV has become a familiar part of their daily routines. Phone companies in this digitally crazed nation in 2005 were the first to launch mobile TV that could be tuned in on phones just about anywhere -- even in the subway tunnels deep beneath Seoul and other cities.
Today, nearly 10 million cellular users are watching soap operas, sports and sitcoms on a special frequency dedicated to portable viewing -- enjoying it all on larger digital-quality screens and high-tech handsets to improve reception.
In Seoul, for example, companies offer eight video and 10 audio channels on new cellphones. There's also a subscription-based satellite service, but few consumers have shelled out for it.
But the proposed changes by cellphone service providers would leave users with only static in the subway, and no TV signal until they hit street level again.
"It's tough. We would love to do this business; however, we don't have the money now," said an official for the union that represents TV content providers, who asked not to be named.
He said the South Korean government should help fund the service in a sort of U.S.-style government bailout. "It is up to our government," he said. "Service on the subway is a public issue."
Cellphone channel-surfing skyrocketed in South Korea during the 2006 World Cup soccer matches. Throughout last year's Beijing Olympics, subway riders crowded around the portable TV screens of fellow passengers for a look.
