The Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA), in partnership with the Korean Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), held Korea in View @BCWW on 29 August, hosting over 300 delegates at COEX, as part of the three-day global broadcasting content convention.
The conference opened with a special welcome address by Eun Young Kang, Director of the Broadcast & Advertisement Policy Division, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, before delving into insights on the next chapter of the Korean content boom and how the industry could emerge from this “correction period”.
For Marianne Lee, Chief of Content Acquisition and Development, Viu, the correction period was driven by the increase in production costs, which had jumped four-fold in the last decade. She emphasized the importance of collective efforts within the industry to optimize monetization and keep pace with rising costs in order to recover as quickly as possible.
Hyun Park, CEO of Alquimista Media, was confident that if Korea and the broader Asia region continued to produce great content, they could fill a void in the streaming world left by the events of the last few years, including the pandemic and the Hollywood strikes.
“Streaming has democratized content in a significant way, and viewers are voting for Asian content, with 14 billion hours of Asian content consumed globally in 2023,” said Vivek Couto, Managing and Executive Director of Media Partners Asia. Asian titles also drove 80% of premium video engagement and acquisition in APAC, with Korean content particularly significant in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, driving over 30% of viewership and contributing up to 30% in viewer acquisition.
Couto further stated that Korea was only in the “second innings” of the streaming industry, with more rapid changes occurring in the advertising space. In a market like Korea, where most households have 2 – 3 subscriptions, there was an opportunity to replicate the pay TV bundle model and expand the market further.
Discussing the resilience of linear TV, Ana Bautista, Head of Strategy – Asia at BBC Studios, highlighted the importance of building connections, relationships, and deeper partnerships to better understand the needs of the market, particularly in Asia and Korea. Changhoon Lee, Head of Media & Content Business Unit at SK Broadband, noted that the lack of personalization was a key challenge facing the industry from an IPTV perspective. However, he saw this as an opportunity to transform IPTV into an AI-driven media platform that could compete with streaming giants.
Despite the significant growth in streaming, advertising revenue has not kept pace. “Measurement is the underpinning currency and determines where the dollars will go,” said Chris Mottershead, Commercial Director – JAPAC at Publica. However, with various stakeholders having differing objectives and data being siloed within walled gardens, the issue remains unresolved. On a positive note, Mottershead added, “We are starting to see a closing of the loop,” with data becoming more unified across the viewing journey, from linear TV to IP and streaming.
Korea in View was sponsored by Lead Sponsor Cultural and Creative Industries Development Agency; Gold Sponsors Publica and TV5Monde; Silver Sponsor Invidi; and Official Partner Korean Creative Content Agency (KOCCA).
Visit https://www.avia.org