Korea’s premium VOD industry continued to grow in the third quarter of 2023, with the number of subscriptions increasing by more than 700,000 to reach 19 million, according to the latest report from Media Partners Asia (MPA).
However, the dominance of Netflix in the market has resulted in two of the biggest local streaming platforms – Tving and Wavve – signing a memorandum of understanding for a merger. Local press is reporting that the MoU was signed by CJ ENM, which owns 48.85% of Tving, and SK Square, which owns 40.5% of Wavve.
According to the MPA report, Netflix is currently the market leader in Korea, capturing 29% of new subscribers to reach 6.5 million subs, accounting for a 34% market share.
Tving came in second with 3.8 million subscribers and a 20% share, followed by Wavve with 3 million subs and a 16% share. Disney+ had a breakthrough quarter, mostly thanks to hit superhero action drama Moving, which helped it reach 2 million subscribers and an 11% share.
Netflix was also the leader in terms of viewership over the quarter with 35%, followed by Tving with 26% and Wavve with 20%.
“Deepening engagement across Disney+ and Tving, and robust subscriber growth boosted premium VOD viewership in Korea in Q3 2023,” said MPA executive director Vivek Couto.
“SVOD leaders continue to grow subscribers from strong local content pipelines and an abundance of drama and variety releases; Tving’s popular reality hits tap into large network audiences such as tvN’s Earth Arcade, while Disney+ had its first major original hit with Moving. Tving and Netflix lead in number of exclusive local titles, and along with Wavve, captured 80% of Korea’s premium VOD viewership in Q3 2023.”
If the merger between Tving and Wavve goes ahead, the two platforms will become Korea’s biggest streaming service, with CJ ENM expected to become the largest shareholder of the merged entity and SK Square the second largest. Local press is also reporting that Tving incurred an operating loss of $90.7M (KRW119.2BN) in 2022, while Wavve’s losses were $92.5M (KRW121.6BN).
Liz Shackleton
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