Watching Tokyo Olympics Live on Naver... Kakao Decides to Opt Out (Summary)

[Asia Economy reporters Bu Aeri and Cha Minyoung] Naver has secured the domestic online broadcasting rights for the Tokyo Olympics. Kakao has decided not to participate in this broadcast, while AfreecaTV, Wavve, and KT Season are still in negotiations.

Watch the Olympics Live on Naver

Naver Sports announced on the 15th that it has secured the online broadcasting rights for the Tokyo Summer Olympics, which will be held starting on the 23rd.

Naver Sports plans to provide live broadcasts of Tokyo Olympic events as well as VOD content of major games.

They have also launched a special page featuring introduction videos of the national team. The special page on mobile and PC will operate with issue cards and special templates tailored to 33 different sports to deliver key game news.

Video content introducing all 232 members of the Republic of Korea national team has been prepared, creating a space where fans can cheer for each athlete.

The cheering service includes a voice search feature developed with new technology. For example, by pressing voice search on the Naver app and shouting "Kim Yeon-koung fighting," users are automatically connected to the cheering page for that athlete.

Jungeom Joo, leader of Naver Sports, said, "User participation events such as the ‘Daily Cheer Challenge’ and the prediction quiz show ‘Team Korea Prediction Test’ will also be held. We have planned a variety of engaging services to encourage active user participation, including awarding stamps and Olympic points based on cheering, and providing Naver Pay rewards upon mission success."

Kakao Decides Not to Broadcast... OTT Industry Still Negotiating

The online broadcasting rights are resold by the three terrestrial broadcasters who hold the general broadcasting rights. The negotiations cover online live broadcasting rights and clip videos including key highlight scenes.

Previously, Coupang Play attempted to secure exclusive online broadcasting rights by offering a broadcasting fee ranging from 40 to 50 billion KRW, but the plan fell through. When it became known that Coupang Play had secured exclusive rights, controversy arose over the ‘universal viewing right.’ Coupang Play’s service is free only for Rocket Wow members who pay 2,900 KRW per month. There were criticisms that national events like the Olympics should be easily accessible, but viewing rights were restricted. Following a series of setbacks including the fire at the Deokpyeong logistics center, Coupang eventually gave up the contract.

Kakao, which had participated in negotiations, decided not to broadcast the Olympics this time. This decision appears to have been made as the price of online broadcasting rights increased somewhat during the process in which Coupang Play initially offered a high amount and then gave up the rights. A Kakao official stated, "To minimize inconvenience to users, we plan to create a separate Daum page where users can access Olympic news."

AfreecaTV, Wavve, and KT Season are still in ongoing negotiations.