Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefKorean streaming platforms Tving and Seezn have announced plans to merge. The consolidation move is seen as a means to counter the dominance of Netflix, which is by far the largest subscription video player in the country.The move was unveiled in two regulatory filings by KT Studio Genie, the media unit of telecoms operator KT Studio Genie, owner of Seezn, and by CJ ENM, the 57% majority owner of TVing.The merger is intended to “strengthen the over-the-top (OTT) platform competitiveness within the domestic media and contents industry, and accelerate the growth of K-contents,” KT Studio Genie said.Tving CEO Yang Ji-eul said the enlarged entity aims to become the world’s No.
1 K-content platform by utilizing the “content production infrastructure and communication technology of both companies.” TVing is expected to absorb Seezn and become the largest Korean-owned streaming platform.
Figures published locally say that the combined entity will have over 5 million subscribers, putting it ahead of the country’s current biggest platform Wavve at 4.23 million.
They also report that Netflix has 11.2 million subscribers in Korea.Figures from other sources differ substantially, suggesting a different methodology, though the ranking of the competing services remains similar.
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