Focusing on Contents
Korean digital content companies such as Naver and Kakao are looking to increase their investment in content development as the film of “Okja,” of which Netflix invested in the production, increases its popularity in the South Korean media market.
According to market experts, the unparalleled competitiveness of Netflix in the global media market has its roots in its self-developed content. This year alone, the company is planning to invest US$6 billion in content development, up 20% from a year ago. In addition, it is planning to produce at least 20 different TV dramas a year until 2019.
The success story of Netflix has stimulated South Korean platform providers and they are currently focusing on digital content only they can provide. Naver and Kakao, for example, are aiming to enter the global market by making use of their own content and the other resources like their characters.
At present, Naver is running the V Live as a global Hallyu platform and video-based SNS Snow. In addition, the company beefed up its Hallyu content in March this year by investing 100 billion won in YG Entertainment. Last year, the V Live recorded 28 million app downloads in 249 countries with 18 million people playing back the content 106 million times on a monthly average basis.
Kakao, in the meantime, is turning its Daum Webtoon, Kakao Page and the like into videos. The web movie titled Close My Eyes was recently shown via the Kakao Page. Kakao is also distributing one-person broadcasting programs via the Kakao TV.