CJ Group, a South Korean conglomerate with entertainment, movie and food businesses, has seen rapid growth in its advertising revenue over the past decade, figures showed Tuesday. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Korea Bizwire) – CJ Group, a South Korean conglomerate with entertainment, movie and food businesses, has seen rapid growth in its advertising revenue over the past decade, figures showed Tuesday.
According to data from the Korea Communications Commission, the ad revenue of CJ broadcasting channels, including tvN, Mnet and OCN, jumped almost 341 percent to 286.8 billion won (US$233 million) in 2014 from 6.5 billion won in 2005.
Terrestrial channels’ ad sales, meanwhile, have shrunk by 22 percent to 1.89 trillion won from 2.43 trillion won during the same period.’
CJ’s strong ad revenue growth is partly attributed to a flurry of mega-hit TV dramas and reality shows, such as “Three Meals a Day,” “Youth Over Flowers” and “Reply 1988,” in recent years. Advertising unit costs for some of the popular CJ TV programs have already exceeded those of prime-time TV shows on terrestrial channels.
Industry experts predict that a possible M&A deal between CJ Hello Vision, a cable television operator of CJ, and SK Telecom Co., the country’s leading telecommunications company, could pose even a bigger threat to its rivals.
CJ, however, is more concerned with overseas competitors.
“CJ is competing against bigger players outside the country, including Chinese firms with fat pockets,” a CJ E&M official said. “In global markets, we face infinite challenges.”
(Yonhap)
