Koreas premium VOD industry continued to grow in the third quarter of 2023, with the number of subscriptions increasing by more than 700,000 to reach 19 million, according to the latest report from Media Partners Asia (MPA).
However, the dominance ofNetflixin the market has resulted in two of the biggest local streaming platforms TvingandWavve signing a memorandum of understanding for a merger.
Local press is reporting that the MoU was signed by CJ ENM, which owns 48.85% of Tving, and SK Square, which owns 40.5% of Wavve.
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Netflix was also the leader in terms of viewership over the quarter with 35%, followed by Tving with 26% and Wavve with 20%.
Tving and Netflix lead in number of exclusive local titles, and along with Wavve, captured 80% of Koreas premium VOD viewership in Q3 2023.
If the merger between Tving and Wavve goes ahead, the two platforms will become Koreas biggest streaming service, with CJ ENM expected to become the largest shareholder of the merged entity and SK Square the second largest.
Local press is also reporting that Tving incurred an operating loss of $90.7M (KRW119.2BN) in 2022, while Wavves losses were $92.5M (KRW121.6BN).
