Supporting Creators
Netflix Co-CEO Ted Serandos vowed to invest in discovering next-generation Korean creators, emphasizing the huge potential of Korean content.
“Netflix has had great partnerships with Korean creators, but it was only the beginning,” he said at the Netflix and Korean Content Event at Four Seasons Hotel Seoul on June 22. “We are going to invest US$2.5 billion in Korea over the next four years, which is double what we’ve invested since 2016.” He also emphasized investing in next-generation creators.
The global OTT giant also emphasized its investment in next-generation creators. “One in five shows made for Netflix is a director’s debut,” Serandos said. “Netflix has grown with the Korean market. We will change and innovate with it. Our partnership with Korea is meaningful because we love Korean content.”
“They entered the top 10 on Netflix in more than 90 countries,” Serandos said, citing the Korean film “Carter” and also the Korean shows “The Glory” and “All of Us Are Dead.” He also said, “Of course, they are also behind ‘Squid Game,’ which is the biggest success in history by any yardstick.”
“We have invested US$1 billion in Open Connect, our own content delivery network,” Serandos said with respect to the issue of network fees, which has been a bone of contention with internet service providers around the world. He emphasized that the Open Connect Project launched with the intention of reducing telecoms investment costs by building its own delivery network instead of paying telecoms companies fees for network use. This implied he was skeptical about paying network usage fees, experts say.
Serandos also mentioned that relationships between internet service providers (ISPs) and content providers (CPs) are symbiotic, not competitive. As network usage fees are currently being litigated in Korean courts, Sorendos judged that it was better for him to emphasize Netflix’s logic for mutually beneficial growth with telecommunications companies than to comment on the specifics of the case, analyst say.
In Korea, bills to mandate network usage fees for content providers are being discussed, starting with a network use fee dispute with SK Broadband in 2020. Globally, the issue of network usage fee payment by CPs is emerging, with the European Parliament recently adopting a resolution stating that companies that generate large amounts of traffic should bear a certain amount of network-related costs.