South Korea’s cable network JTBC and entertainment giant CJ ENM announced Tuesday the launch of a joint video-streaming service amid intensifying competition in the broadcasting industry.
The companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to launch an integrated over-the-top video service by combining their video contents. The new platform is expected to become available early next year.
The upcoming service will be modeled after CJ ENM’s video-streaming platform Tving, which contains popular TV dramas from JTBC and other cable networks. They plan to create original contents to attract more subscribers
“Given the rapid changes in the broadcasting industry, creating unique contents and the distribution system are crucial to succeed,” said JTBC. “We hope that our OTT platform will raise Korea’s competitiveness in the media industry to the global level."
CJ ENM said their cooperation would help create a better broadcasting industry landscape in Korea, where various providers can create quality contents.
Korea’s broadcasting industry has been undergoing a transformation amid the growing presence of global streaming giants such as Netflix. Content providers and local distributors are trying to create attractive contents to compete against Netflix’s original shows targeting the local audience.
On Monday, Korea’s three territorial broadcasters and mobile carrier SK Telecom celebrated the launch of their integrated video-streaming service Wavve. Having combined SKT’s Pooq with the broadcasters’ Oksusu, the service will be available on Wednesday.
“One of our strengths is creating attractive contents,” SKT chief Park Jung-ho said during. “Beyond the Korean market, we will expand overseas, targeting the US and the Asian market.”
The broadcasters and SKT said they hope to increase the number of paid subscribers to five million by 2023. They also pledged to spend 300 billion won ($254 million) creating original contents to compete against Netflix and other global video streaming giants.
By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)
