Jay Yang: Last News

Korea, one of the world’s most advanced economies and now one of the most competitive OTT markets.Now, local contender Tving reckons it has many of the tools it needs to unseat Netflix from its hard-earned position as Korea’s top dog streamer.Streaming industry numbers in Korea have risen in roughly inverse proportion to the decline of theatrical film industry. South Korea was the world’s fourth biggest box office market until 2019, but it is now chugging along with a dearth of local titles and aggregate revenues averaging a miserable $5 million per weekend so far in 2022.Consultancy, Media Partners Asia has estimated in contrast that Netflix may have ended 2021 with some six million paying subscribers (in a population of 51 million).

Rebecca Souw Korea’s leading entertainment company, CJ ENM has appointed Choi Ju-hui as CEO of the TVing streaming service in which it has a controlling stake, following the recent resignation of CEO Jay Yang. Choi becomes the first female CEO in the Korean OTT platform business. Choi’s appointment also follows completion of the merger between TVing and Seezn, a smaller streamer previously owned by local telco giant, KT Corp. The merger is expected to bring cost savings in marketing and customer acquisition, benefitting from KT’s network of 14 million subscribers.

Rebecca Souw South Korea boasts world-beating tech firms and entertainment content that is currently hugely in demand, but locally-based SVOD companies are struggling to compete with the dominance of Netflix.Competition for Korean eyeballs is set to intensify when Disney Plus launches in the country next month.The CEOs of two Korean firms – Jay Yang of Tving and Phil Yoon of KT Studio Genie – discussed their dilemma on stage Tuesday at the Asian Contents & Film Market, that is allied with the ongoing Busan International Film Festival. One way to play catch up might be for all the Korean SVOD players to form an alliance.“We are discussing with all the domestic players,” said Tving’s Yang.