'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' Ends with Highest Ratings
Media Sales Target of 5 Trillion Won in 2025
[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] KT, which recorded a phenomenal hit with 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo,' is drawing attention as it strengthens its content capabilities to continue its success.
According to KT on the 20th, ENA channel's 'Woo Young-woo' ended on the 18th with episode 16 achieving a viewership rating of 17.53%.
This set a new personal best rating. Compared to the first episode's rating of only 0.95% (Nielsen Korea, nationwide paid households), it is about an 18-fold increase.
It also gained popularity in the global market. 'Woo Young-woo' ranked first in viewing hours for three consecutive weeks in the non-English drama category on Netflix. According to Netflix Top 10, 'Woo Young-woo' recorded 69.36 million viewing hours in the second week of August (8-14). This is about 2.9 times the viewing hours of the second-place drama, 'Pasi?n de Gavilanes: Season 2' (23.95 million hours). CNN Business even reported that 'Woo Young-woo' could become a hit like 'Squid Game.'
With its unprecedented ratings, the newly launched channel ENA was also able to raise its presence. After changing its channel name from SKY to ENA in April, it made a mark with 'No Goo Pil-soo' and 'Woo Young-woo.' Recently, ENA secured channel number 1 from number 29 through regular channel reorganization on Olleh TV following Skylife.
KT is strengthening its content competitiveness by establishing KT Studio Genie last year as a media and content control tower. Under KT Studio Genie, it reorganized capabilities by incorporating Storywiz, Genie Music, Millie's Library, Media Genie, and others. Last month, by merging Season with TVING, it secured the number one native online video service (OTT) distribution channel.
In April, KT revealed a goal to increase the group's media sales from about 3.6 trillion won in 2021 to 5 trillion won by 2025.
Hyun-yong Kim, a researcher at Hyundai Motor Securities, said, "KT Studio Genie, which oversees the media business, has completed vertical integration of the supply chain from securing original story IPs (K-toon, Millie's Library), producing 8 to 10 dramas annually (Studio Genie), to distribution through its own OTT (TVING-Season merger) and channels (Sky TV, Media Genie)."
Jaemin Ahn, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, stated, "With the success of 'Woo Young-woo,' KT's content business has gained momentum, and the production capabilities of original content from Studio Genie and Sky TV are expected to strengthen. The strategic alliance with CJ ENM and the merger of TVING and Season are also positive momentum."
Meanwhile, KT will release ENA's new Wednesday-Thursday drama 'Good Job' as the successor to 'Woo Young-woo' on the 24th. Following that, 'Eoljuka Yeonae Ddawi' (literally 'Love to Freeze to Death') in October and 'Unlocking the CEO' in December are scheduled to premiere.
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