Paramount+ Partners for Content
6 Million Monthly Active Users in June
Increase of Over 300,000 from May
Native No.1 Wavve Has 4.23 Million
If Merger with Seezn Succeeds
Nearly 6 Million Users at Once
[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Tving, which has expanded its reach through a content partnership with Paramount+, has secured over 4 million monthly users, closely trailing Wave, the leading domestic online video service (OTT). If the rumored merger with Season materializes, Tving is expected to leap to nearly 6 million users, becoming the number one OTT in South Korea.
Tving Surpasses 4 Million Users
According to Mobile Index on the 11th, the monthly active users (MAU) trend for major domestic OTT applications shows that Tving reached 4.01 million users in June, an increase of about 300,000 from May (3.81 million). Compared to the same period last year (3.15 million), it recorded a net increase of nearly 900,000 users.
The undisputed leader is Netflix, which recorded 11.17 million users in June. However, this is a slight decrease from 11.25 million in May, continuing a downward trend. Wave, the top domestic OTT, maintained its user base at 4.23 million in June, narrowing the gap with Tving to around 200,000 users. Following closely is Coupang Play, which increased its users to 3.73 million. Watcha and Disney+ each recorded user numbers in the 1 million range.
Amid fierce competition among domestic OTTs, Tving has opened a new path by expanding its reach through content partnerships. Paramount+ chose to enter the Korean market via Tving, establishing a dedicated brand section within the platform. Tving is rapidly increasing its subscriber base by offering unlimited broadcasting access linked with Naver Plus Membership. Recently, it has also been preparing to launch exclusive plans through partnerships with telecom companies such as KT and LG Uplus.
If KT Season Merges, Domestic No.1
The industry's biggest focus is on when Tving and KT Season will merge. In March, KT signed a comprehensive partnership with CJ ENM, Tving's parent company, to collaborate across the content sector. They established a mutual cooperation committee to discuss content investment, planning, and production comprehensively. Notably, the possibility of merging KT's own OTT platform, Season, with Tving has also been raised during this process.
If KT Season merges with Tving, Tving will instantly surpass Wave to become the top domestic OTT. Since Season currently has about 1.5 million monthly active users, the combined user base would reach approximately 5.5 million, overtaking Wave's 4.23 million. KT, led by its 'media and content control tower' KT Studio Genie, has achieved visible success in content, including the hit 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo,' but Season has struggled in the fiercely competitive OTT market. Although Season released the original work 'Juvenile Offender' in March this year, attracting new users, concerns have been raised about its competitiveness as an OTT.
Some speculate that KT and CJ ENM will hold a board meeting this week to finalize the merger of Season and Tving, with Tving absorbing Season. Both companies maintain that "nothing has been decided," but Kang Guk-hyun, President of KT's Customer Division, gave an open response of "under review" to questions about the merger at KT Group's media event in April. The industry views the merger as an inevitable step, and a major shift in the domestic OTT market is expected to begin soon.
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