The Main Living Room Also Feels the 'Bong Joon-ho' Effect, IPTV Smiles... 'Parasite' Viewership Up 10x

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Joesulgina] The 'Bong Joon-ho' effect is also appearing in living rooms through Internet TV (IPTV). The number of video-on-demand (VOD) users for Bong Joon-ho's film Parasite, which won four Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Picture?the first Korean film to achieve this?soared about 10 times daily immediately after the awards ceremony. The cultural trend of refraining from going out to theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic has also been analyzed as a windfall benefit for the IPTV industry.

According to KT, the leading paid broadcasting operator, the number of Parasite VOD views on Olleh TV increased by an average of 701% daily compared to the previous month during January 10?11, right after the Academy Awards. KT's online video service (OTT), Seezn, also recorded a 680% increase.

This surge reflects the rapid increase in viewers wanting to watch Bong’s film, which rewrote Korean film history after the Academy Awards. This is known as the Parasite special effect. SK Broadband’s Btv also saw a 567% increase in Parasite VOD views during the same period. Compared to the daily average in December, the increase reached 1,078%.

A representative from LG HelloVision stated, "Thanks to Bong Joon-ho’s achievement of four Academy Awards, Parasite VOD views on Hello TV increased 11 times daily compared to the previous month," adding, "Views of Bong’s previous works and other Academy Award-winning films also increased." VOD purchases of Bong’s other representative work, Snowpiercer, rose about 9.1 times. There is also a growing trend of rewatching the free VOD Memories of Murder. According to Homechoice, a VOD service provider, as of January 11, VOD sales for Snowpiercer and A Day with the Monster jumped 32 times and 12 times respectively compared to a week earlier.

The Parasite special effect is becoming a new boon for the IPTV sector, which had driven growth for the three major mobile carriers despite performance declines amid last year’s 5G competition. Recently, as fewer people visit theaters due to COVID-19, the IPTV and OTT industries have been enjoying windfall benefits, acting as an overlapping special effect. SK Telecom’s Wave service saw a 7.3% increase in paid movie purchases when comparing January and early February (1st?9th).