The service is made possible by so-called transmission network gap fillers that relay signals underground. But each of the half-dozen cellular providers says the service has become too expensive.
In a struggling economy, the providers say, the $250,000 annual fee each pays subway companies for the service is a make-or-break amount.
In a competitive market, it's better to do away with subway TV than ask subscribers to pay for it. The possibility of dropping it all together -- once considered remote -- is now on the table, they say.
Meanwhile, some South Koreans are watching more than two hours of TV a day on their cellphones, and government officials predict that TV-capable phones will soon be as ubiquitous as camera phones are now.
Young tech-savvy consumers here remain hungry for new electronic gizmos. Research shows that South Korean youths replace their cellphones every 11 months. One in three students sends 100 text messages a day. And 97% of cellphone users purchase vanity ring tones from the Internet.
But as the unemployment rate soars, it's uncertain whether cellphone users will reach further into their pockets to pay for subway TV.
On his afternoon subway commute, aboard a train crowded with glum-faced salary men and grandmothers with grocery bags, Kim Tae-woo laughed at a variety TV show. The 16-year-old student said it would be hard to get along without a service he has come to prize.
"I'd be pretty annoyed," he said. "I wouldn't be able to watch TV anymore. That's too bad."
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john.glionna@latimes.com
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Ju-min Park of The Times' Seoul Bureau contributed to this report.
