Choi Ji-ho faces Chung TV's comeback test on The Manager

Chungju City's official YouTube channel Chung TV is returning to the stage of television variety programming. This time, the focus is not former official Kim Suntae, widely known as Chungju Man, but Choi Ji-ho, the public official who has taken over the channel's on-camera role under the name Chungju Girl.

Episode 402 of MBC's variety observation program The Manager will air at 11:10 p.m. on June 13 and follow a day in Choi's work. The story is not only about the next chapter of a funny civil-servant YouTube channel. The episode will also show how Chung TV, which lost roughly 220,000 subscribers after Kim left, climbed back above the 800,000-subscriber mark.

After Kim Suntae's departure, the channel fell from 970,000 subscribers to 750,000. Chung TV's appeal had never been simple institutional promotion. Kim, a former Chungju City official, built one of the most visible local-government channels in South Korea by using short, fast-paced editing, self-deprecating humor, and a knack for turning city-office work into variety-style entertainment.

For that reason, his exit became more than a routine change of personnel. On February 13, Kim announced his farewell through a video titled Last Goodbye. It was a sign-off after 10 years in public service and seven years living as Chungju Man.

As of February this year, Chung TV had surpassed 970,000 subscribers and was close to reaching the one-million mark. But after news of Kim's resignation, the channel's subscriber count dropped from about 971,000 to around 751,000 in just four days. One person's resignation was enough to shake the subscribe button of an official city channel.

The channel then continued with new content fronted by Choi Ji-ho, and by the morning of May 8 its subscriber count had recovered to 818,000. Chung TV has not collapsed; it is enduring in a different form.

The name Chungju Girl may sound approachable, but the weight attached to it is not light. Choi first became known as Kim Suntae's manager, and now she has to stand directly in front of the camera herself. The recognition left by her predecessor gives her a higher starting line, but comparison follows at the same time.

In the preview for The Manager, Choi says, "In the past, when I woke up in the morning, I would first look up the views and reactions, but now I am scared and cannot really look." For a public-relations official, view counts are a measure of performance and also a pressure that must be faced every morning. Because the person carrying that burden is not an ordinary entertainer but a civil servant making content, Chung TV's comedy rests on very real labor.

As Chung TV moved back past 800,000 subscribers, it did not simply imitate its former lead personality. Instead, it used the crisis itself as material for content. In a parody of Chuno, the channel set up a premise about going after subscribers who had left, combining an explanation of the situation with humor. It then used a parody of Single's Inferno to introduce new team members and connect the comedy back to promotion of the Chungju region.

The Manager will also feature official Jang Yeon-ju appearing together as Choi's manager. The preview has already teased scenes that use the contrast between Jang, who is 177 centimeters tall, and Choi, who is 157 centimeters tall, as a comic point. The real point, however, is that Chung TV is trying to show that it is no longer a channel driven only by one person's wit, but one that presents the faces of a team and the process behind its production.

The broadcast gives Chung TV a chance to draw attention again. Television variety shows reach a broader audience than YouTube, and viewers who do not know Chung TV well will be introduced to Choi Ji-ho for the first time. Without denying the success Kim Suntae created, the episode places Choi and the new media team at the center as they show how they will continue telling Chungju City's story.

Episode 402 of MBC's The Manager airs at 11:10 p.m. on June 13.