Radio era (1961–1968)

Broadcasting from Seoul (call sign: HLKV, frequency: 900 kHz, output: 10 kW), MBC started as the first non-governmental commercial broadcaster in Korea. On 12 April 1963, it obtained a license from the government for operating regional stations in major cities (Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, Jeonju) in Korea and established a broadcast network which connects six cities including Seoul and Busan.

Black and white TV era (1969–1979)

MBC launched TV broadcasting on 8 August 1969 (call sign: HLAC-TV, output: 2 kW), and started to broadcast its main news program, MBC Newsdesk, on 5 October 1970. It reached an affiliation deal with 7 commercial stations (in Ulsan, Jinju, Gangnueng, Chuncheon, Mokpo, Jeju, Masan) between 1968 and 1969, and started nationwide TV broadcasting through its 13 affiliated or regional stations. In 1974, FM radio was launched, and MBC took over Kyunghyang Shinmun, a daily newspaper.

Colour TV era (1980–1989)

On 11 December 1980, the Korean Broadcasting System acquired 65% of the shares.^[2] The first colour TV broadcast was started on 22 December 1980. MBC was separated from the Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper due to the 1981 Basic Press Act. In 1982, MBC moved into the Yeouido headquarters. That same year, the network founded its baseball team, MBC Cheong-ryong (Blue Dragon), which entered the KBO League as a charter team, in addition to the network being the first home of the league's TV broadcasts. With the live coverage of the 1986 Seoul Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, MBC made a great advancement in scale and technology.

Ownership of the Blue Dragon baseball team was passed to LG Corporation in 1989.

Multimedia era (1990–1999)

After rapidly growing into a large corporation covering major international events, MBC established specialized companies for each value chain (MBC Production, MBC Media Tech, MBC Broadcast Culture Center, MBC Arts Company, MBC Arts Center) and spun them off as subsidiaries to become a more efficient corporation amid fiercer competition in the multimedia era. MBC Production and MBC Media Tech were merged into MBC C&I in August 2011.

Digital era (2000–present)

In 2000, MBC made its subsidiary iMBC (internet MBC) an independent corporation^[3] to pursue various internet-related business. Furthermore, it started cable TV (MBC Plus Media,) satellite TV, new DMB broadcasting and full daytime broadcasting on terrestrial television. In 2007, MBC established Ilsan Dream Center, a digital production centre. In September 2014, it completed the construction of a new headquarters building and moved from Yeouido to Sangam-dong.

In 2001, MBC launched satellite and cable television broadcasting. As part of this expansion, it created MBC America, a subsidiary based in Los Angeles, United States, to distribute its programming throughout the Americas. On 1 August 2008, MBC America launched MBC-D, a television network carried on the digital subchannels of KSCI-TV, KTSF-TV, and WMBC-TV. The service was planned to be launched in Atlanta, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. by the end of the year.^[4] In northeast metro Atlanta, it aired on WKTB-CD channel 47.3 (now a Telemundo affiliate), but as of 2011 is on WSKC-CD channel 22.1.

In March 2013, computer shutdowns hit South Korean television stations, including MBC.^[5] The South Korean government asserted a North Korean link in the March cyberattacks, which has been denied by Pyongyang.^[6]

During the opening of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, MBC accidentally depicted stereotypes about specific countries like Italy for pizzas.^[7]