Robust growth in Korea’s premium VOD sector, led by Tving

Mumbai: The premium video-on-demand (VOD) landscape in South Korea grew subscribers, revenues and engagement at robust levels in 1H 2024 according to analysis conducted by ampd, the digital measurement platform owned and operated by Media Partners Asia (MPA). The Korean SVOD market added 705,000 net new subscribers in 1H to a total 20.8 million by end of June 2024 while premium VOD revenues, including subscription and advertising, grew 11 per cent year-on-year to $922 million and viewership grew five per cent Y/Y to 103 billion minutes.

Tving led subscriber growth in 1H 2024, contributing 34 per cent share of SVOD category net additions to 4.2 million total subscribers. Tving’s growth is anchored to popular tvN and JTBC network dramas, variety and originals. The introduction of a new advertising tier helped drive user growth in 1H 2024, with MAUs >11.5 million. Netflix remains the premium VOD category leader with 43 per cent share of revenue and 37 per cent of viewership. Tving is gaining pace, growing share of premium VOD viewership by six points Y/Y to reach 30 per cent, capturing 15 per cent of premium VOD revenues. Beyond premium VOD, viewership across AVOD, SVOD and live streaming platforms on mobile devices totalled 534 billion minutes in 1H 2024, up 24 per cent Y/Y. YouTube is the overall VOD category leader and continues to gain share, reaching 80 per cent of total VOD viewership in 1H 2024.

ampd’s lead analyst & head of insights Dhivya T commented: “Local content captured 77 per cent of premium VOD category engagement and 75 per cent of customer acquisition in 1H 2024, with key drama and variety hits from Tving , Netflix , Coupang Play and Disney+. An abundance of local drama and variety releases across major VOD platforms drive viewership, with over 200 titles contributing to 80 per cent of Korean content demand in 1H 2024. Tving led hits across scripted and unscripted titles, carrying 10 of the top 15 titles (seven shared across platforms) in 1H 2024. Other key platforms include Netflix with seven of the top 15 titles. Disney+ originals Coupang Play’s sports and originals also broke through. CJ ENM produced six of the top 15 titles in 1H 2024.”

Premium VOD viewership share in South Korea (1H 2024)