South Korea’s OTT (over-the-top) content industry was estimated at 488.4 billion won ($436.8 million) in 2016, increasing by 53.7 percent compared to 2015. (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, May 23 (Korea Bizwire) – The latest data from market analyst DMC Media has revealed that YouTube was still the most popular video streaming platform on mobile devices in South Korea, chosen by 42.8 percent of 1,000 study participants in April, which was up from the 38 percent observed last year.
YouTube outstripped its competitors by a large gap, despite efforts by local streaming platforms to bring up their market share. Following YouTube was Naver TV at 15.4 percent, Facebook (9.1 percent), Oksusu by SK Telecom (8 percent), Kakao TV (4.6 percent), TVing (3.7 percent), and Daum (3.4 percent).
Google’s streaming platform also had the most loyal customers, with 78.1 percent of respondents who chose YouTube as their primary video streaming medium saying they would continue to use the app. Oksusu (74 percent) and Naver TV (68.6 percent) also had loyal customers.
Consumers were most influenced by the quantity of free content when choosing a streaming service, at 39.1 percent, followed by “diversity of content” (28.5 percent), “(platform) offering programs and genres I prefer” (23.9 percent), and “accessibility of searching content” (23 percent).
YouTube also triumphed in video streaming on personal computers, as it was chosen by 45.5 percent of respondents. Naver TV was again the runner-up at 18.8 percent, followed by GOM TV (5.9 percent), Facebook (4.9 percent), and Pooq (4.3 percent).
According to senior analyst Oh Young-ah, competition in the video streaming sector has become more intense recently with SK Telecom’s launch of Oksusu last year and Kakao TV, introduced in February of this year.
“(South Korea’s) market for internet videos continues to grow,” she said.
Data from the Korea Information Society Development Institute estimated South Korea’s OTT (over-the-top) content industry at 488.4 billion won ($436.8 million) in 2016, increasing by 53.7 percent compared to 2015.
The Korea OnlineAd Association said that online video ad royalties jumped by 66 percent to approximately 314.9 billion won during the same period, and are expected to surpass 500 billion by the end of 2017.
By Joseph Shin (jss539@koreabizwire.com)
