Monthly Video Content Usage Fee Jumped from 6,700 Won to 13,000 Won

Impact of Social Distancing Since COVID-19 Outbreak
Surge in New OTT Subscriptions and Home Content Consumption

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The video content market, including Over-The-Top (OTT) services, is considered a growing sector with a rapid increase in users despite the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The demand for entertainment increased as more people stayed at home due to restrictions on outdoor activities such as social distancing. In fact, the amount spent by domestic consumers on video content platforms nearly doubled on average compared to before the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to the Korea Creative Content Agency on the 2nd, an online panel survey conducted recently with 697 domestic content users showed that the average monthly expenditure on video content platforms increased from 6,650 KRW before the COVID-19 outbreak to 13,119 KRW after the outbreak.

This is also understood to be related to changes in the locations where content is consumed. The proportion of people using content at home was 52.1% before the COVID-19 outbreak, but this increased to 68.74% after the outbreak.

57.9% of survey respondents said they intend to continue enjoying new content they encountered during the social distancing period. This suggests that even after the COVID-19 situation calms down and daily life returns to normal, the recently increased spending on content consumption is likely to be maintained.

According to the Korea Creative Content Agency, the proportion of people using content at home is expected to return to the pre-COVID-19 level of 51.9% after the pandemic ends, but the average monthly spending on video platforms is projected to remain at 10,361 KRW, which is 55.8% higher than before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Source=Korea Creative Content Agency

Notable Growth of YouTube and Netflix
Domestic Platforms Also Benefit Slightly

Among domestic and international platforms, global operators YouTube and Netflix attracted significant user interest. A survey on newly subscribed video content platforms after social distancing showed YouTube leading with 45.5%, followed by Netflix at 36.7%.

Domestic platforms were recorded in the following order: TVING (9%), KakaoTV (6.9%), WAVVE (6.7%), AfreecaTV (4.8%), U+ Mobile TV (4.5%), Watcha (3.3%), Naver TV (3.3%), Nate Video (2.6%), and Season (2.6%).

The number of monthly active users (MAU), which indicates how many users actually watch video content on OTT platforms, also surged after the COVID-19 outbreak. According to market research firm Nielsen KoreanClick, Netflix’s MAU in August was 7,558,292, nearly double the 3,876,604 recorded in December last year before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Meanwhile, spending on webtoon and web novel platforms more than doubled from 5,864 KRW before the COVID-19 outbreak to 12,321 KRW after, and spending on music content platforms also increased from 5,812 KRW to 7,326 KRW.

Researchers from the Future Policy Team at the Korea Creative Content Agency stated based on the survey results that "even after the end of COVID-19, consumer spending on video, music, and webtoon/web novel platforms is expected to remain at levels higher than before the pandemic."