In this file photo taken Oct. 31, 2021, people wait to buy tickets at a movie theater in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 26 (Korea Bizwire) — With many South Koreans opting to stay at home to watch movies rather than going to movie theaters, consumer patterns in movie consumption are also changing.
The Korea Film Council reported that movie theaters only accounted for 30.4 percent of revenue in the entire film industry last year, which was less than half of the pre-pandemic record in 2019 (64.4 percent).
In contrast, the streaming and video-on-demand (VOD) market grew from 35.6 percent in 2019 to 69.6 percent in 2021, surpassing movie theaters.
Viewing patterns and preferences have also changed, with movies transformed into easily consumable streaming content. Now, consumers increasingly prefer watching a single movie over a couple of days, pausing and rewatching the film as they please.
Some consumers use the speed features on Netflix, Watcha and other streaming platforms to watch various films at 1.25 or 1.5 times the original speed, which allows them to watch movies more quickly.
“I’ve grown used to watching movies quicker and faster so much that now it feels too loose to watch a film at its original speed,” said a 24-year-old college student surnamed Lim.
Some experts are concerned that this way of watching films makes it difficult for audiences to properly understand the producer’s intentions, and undermine the film’s overall ratings.
“There are films that must be watched at a movie theater to fully appreciate their value. Watching them at home, pausing and fast-forwarding them as they go, only deprives viewers of their appreciation of these films,” a movie industry official said.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
