Providing Marvel and Disney Content Based on Distribution Capabilities
"Contracted with Disney and others to offer carefully selected content within 10 years"
Viewing Available on 4 Devices per Subscriber... Monthly Fee 14,190 KRW
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] SK Broadband is launching a subscription service called 'Ocean' that offers over 10,000 movies and foreign dramas. It targets Netflix's weaknesses by securing content that is hard to find on Netflix, such as Marvel and Disney titles. The service can be used on up to four devices including smartphones, and provides personalized content recommendations for each account.
On the 28th, SK Broadband held a press conference at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, to introduce Ocean, a new monthly subscription movie service. The monthly fee for Ocean, which allows access to both movies and foreign dramas, is 14,190 KRW, while OceanM, which offers only movies, costs 9,900 KRW.
Kim Jong-won, head of the SK Broadband Platform Group overseeing the Ocean service, explained, "Until now, the IPTV market has been supplier-centered, with the latest movies offered via pay-per-view (PPV) and older titles through subscription. Netflix, focusing on originals, has not captured Korean consumers' preferences and lacks distribution capabilities compared to telecom companies. We are introducing high-quality content through a subscription model, innovating the existing subscription products."
Actively Utilizing Distribution Capabilities... Marvel and Disney Not Available on Netflix
'Ocean' addresses all the shortcomings of existing IPTV subscription services. It offers more movies and newer releases than Netflix, and expands device support beyond IPTV to mobile devices. It is an expanded and revamped version of the paid product 'Premier' for Btv subscribers, with the same fee but double the number of movies and triple the number of dramas available.
Ocean has secured 140 recent theatrical releases (within one year), which is three times the number offered by competitors (44 titles). The total number of movies provided is 11,000, and foreign dramas reach about 670 titles (17,000 episodes). This is 3,000 to 7,500 more titles than other services. They have set a principle to schedule up to 90% of domestic films that have attracted over one million viewers in the past 10 years, and more than 50% of theatrical releases within three months after their run ends. Almost all movies scheduled on Btv can be watched without additional purchase. While the existing 'Premier' offered 54% of domestic films owned by Btv, Ocean expands this to 97% for domestic works.
Ocean also offers content from overseas studios that are hard to find on Netflix. It provides content from six major foreign studios: Marvel series, Disney, Warner Bros., Fox, NBCUniversal, Sony, and Paramount. Compared to the existing 'Premier' product, the number of US and UK drama titles is doubled. For Chinese dramas popular among men in their 30s and 40s, simultaneous broadcasting with local airings is being pursued, and Japanese dramas will be expanded to Netflix-level offerings. The service includes popular animations from Disney and Pixar, providing genre diversity suitable for families. To create synergy with the domestic OTT service Wavve, original contents like 'SF8' and 'Zombie Detective' from Wavve will also be available on Ocean.
Kim Jong-won, head of the Platform Group, said, "Competitors have not been able to secure contracts with major overseas studios and have excluded such content, but domestic IPTV has solid partnership relationships. We have contracted with major studios like Disney to provide carefully selected content from the past 10 years. We plan to offer foreign dramas at a level competitive with other OTT services."
Separate App to Launch Within the Year... Supports Up to Four Devices Including Smartphones
The supported device range has been expanded so that a family of four can enjoy the 'Ocean' service, including smartphones. Up to four devices per Btv subscriber can use Ocean. For example, while parents watch a movie on TV, two children can each watch their preferred movies on smartphones. If family members use different accounts (profiles), content recommendations tailored to their tastes are provided. SK Broadband expects the number of subscribers to double within the year compared to existing products with the launch of Ocean.
Kim Jong-won said, "We plan to offer Ocean to 20-30-year-old customers who use SK Broadband's high-speed internet but not IPTV. However, there are currently no plans to open the service to non-subscribers of the network. Existing Premier subscribers can transition to Ocean, and individual VOD purchases remain possible as before."
Btv's UI and UX have also been revamped. The 'Supernova' upgrade enhances SD quality to full HD, and the AI-based content information service 'Inside,' which uses video and audio recognition technology, has been integrated into Btv. The interface uses a midnight blue color scheme to provide visual comfort and organizes menus according to the direction of the viewer's gaze. Lee Sang-beom, head of SK Broadband's Product Tribe, said, "Previously, feedback indicated the interface was focused on new releases and felt like an advertisement board, so we redesigned the UI to help users quickly find desired content among various options. We also provide organized menus for senior users, content previews, and ratings from Btv and Watcha."
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