Tving, the video streaming platform owned by CJ ENM, Naver and JTBC, was the biggest winner in a strong first half of the year for video streaming in South Korea.
A new report from research and consulting firms AMPD and Media Partners Asia showed that Korea’s video-on-demand (VOD) market grew by 705,000 subscribers to 20.8 million by the end of June. The sector’s revenue also grew 11% year-on-year to $922 million. Watch time expanded 5% to 103 billion minutes.
While Netflix remains the leader in the premium VOD category in Korea, with a 43% share of revenue and 37% of viewers, Tving was the biggest winner in the first half.
It accounted for a third of total net new subscriptions and had a total of 4.2 million subscribers at the end of June. Tving accounted for 30% of premium VOD views (up from 24%) and captured 15% of premium VOD revenue. “Tving’s growth is driven by popular dramas, variety shows and originals on tvN and JTBC,” the report said. “The introduction of a new advertising tier helped drive user growth in half with monthly active users surpassing 11.5 million.”
In the broader Korean video streaming market (including premium VOD, AVOD, SVOD, and mobile streaming platforms), the market’s total viewing minutes reached 534 billion minutes in the first six months of 2024, up 24% year-on-year. YouTube leads the VOD category overall and continues to gain share, accounting for 80% of total VOD viewing.
Local content captured 77% of premium video on demand category engagement and 75% of customer acquisition in [the first half]“With major drama and variety hits from Tving, Netflix, Coupang Play, and Disney+. The abundance of local drama and variety releases across major video-on-demand platforms is driving viewership, with over 200 titles contributing to 80% of demand for Korean content,” said Divya Tee, principal analyst and head of insights at AMPD. “Tving led the hits across scripted and non-scripted titles, carrying 10 of the top 15 titles (7 shared across platforms). Other major platforms include Netflix with seven of the top 15 titles. Disney Originals+
Sports and original games produced by Coupang Play have also been a huge success. CJ ENM produced six of the top 15 titles in the first half of 2024.
In terms of premium video-on-demand market share in Korea, Netflix accounted for 37%, followed by Tving 30%, Wavve 18%, Coupang Play 9%, Disney+ 5%, and U+ Mobile and Watcha 1% each, in the first half.
