More than any other U.S. brand, Netflix remains closely associated with South Korea’s bankable entertainment industry, thanks to some savvy early bets and a consistent strategy of heavy investment there. Even with the second season of Squid Game not to come until December, the company’s share of Korea’s domestic streaming marketplace was dominant in the first half of 2024, a new study from regional consultancy Media Partners Asia shows. But the research also reveals how local platform Tving, a joint venture between a trio of Korea’s biggest media firms, has started to catch up.
Overall, Korea’s streaming market is still expanding. The country’s subscription video-on-demand landscape grew by 705,000 subscribers to reach 20.8 million in the first half of 2024, with revenues in the sector climbing 11 percent year-on-year to $922 million. Total streaming viewing time expanded by 5 percent to 103 billion minutes, according to MPA’s estimates.
Tving made the biggest gains of any company in the first half with year-on-year viewership growth of 6 percent, taking 30 percent of the full pie. Its share of revenue, meanwhile, was 15 percent. The service also contributed just over one-third of the sector’s subscription additions, as its sub count climbed to 4.2 million in the period.
Tving is a joint venture between Korean studio giant CJ ENM, leading local internet company Naver and TV network JTBC. The service was launched to ensure Korea’s legacy media giants didn’t miss out on the streaming revolution.
“Tving’s growth is anchored to popular tvN and JTBC network dramas, variety and originals,” MPA said. “The introduction of a new advertising tier also helped drive growth, with monthly active users exceeding 11.5 million.”
Netflix’s share of total viewership slipped three percent in the first half, but it was still the market leader at 37 percent. The company’s slice of the total revenue piece was a dominant 43 percent, thanks to its local subscriber base of nearly 7 million and considerably higher ARPUs.
Other platforms trailed the two market leaders for viewership. Wavve, the joint venture between several of Korea’s top broadcasters, took an 18 percent share, while Coupang Play followed at 9 percent, and Disney+ showed up at 5 percent.
Local content continues to be the sector’s dominant business driver, with Korean titles capturing 77 percent of premium VOD category engagement and 75 percent of customer acquisition, said Dhivya T, lead analyst at MPA’s research arm AMPD.
“Tving led hits across scripted and unscripted titles, carrying 10 of the top 15 titles in the first half of 2024 (with seven shared with other platforms),” she added. Netflix, meanwhile, had seven of the top 15 titles during the period.