Tottenham Invitational 'Coupang Play Series' Draws Attention
On the 13th, at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo-gu, Seoul, Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min is greeting fans during the first match of the Coupang Play Series, a friendly game between Team K League and the English Premier League's Tottenham Hotspur. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@
The number of users of Coupang's online video service (OTT), 'Coupang Play,' is rapidly increasing. Although there was a decline after January due to factors such as the increase in usage fees for 'Wow Membership' members, the number of users has recently risen again, reaching a record high. This appears to be due to a significant expansion of exclusive content available only on Coupang Play, such as the 'Coupang Play Series' featuring Tottenham, the club where Son Heung-min plays, and the drama 'Anna' starring Suzy.
According to Mobile Index by data company IGAWorks on the 14th, the number of Coupang Play users (MAU) based on Android and iPhone (iOS) smartphones last month reached 3.73 million. This is an increase of 620,000 compared to the previous month. Compared to two months ago in April, the number increased by more than 700,000.
Coupang Play's users had decreased since January this year. There were views that this was due to intensified competition in the domestic OTT market, as well as analyses that the increase in usage fees for Wow Membership members using Coupang Play had an impact. However, last month, contrary to these analyses, the number of users recovered and even broke the record. Looking at the weekly active users (WAU), the recent upward trend is even more pronounced. During the week until the 26th of last month, Coupang Play had about 1.81 million users; for the week until the 3rd of this month, it was 1.84 million, and from the 4th to the 10th, it jumped to 1.95 million.
Industry experts evaluate this as a remarkable achievement in the domestic OTT market, where global companies, major content corporations, and telecommunications companies compete. The OTT with the most users in Korea is Netflix, followed by Wavve, TVING, and Coupang Play ranks fourth. Considering that Wavve had 4.23 million users last month and TVING had 4.01 million, the gap is not large.
The industry analyzes that Coupang's continuous investment and efforts to secure original content exclusive to Coupang Play are showing results. A representative example is the 'Coupang Play Series,' which held its first match on the 13th. Coupang invited Tottenham, a popular Premier League (PL) club where national sports star Son Heung-min plays, and held the first friendly match against Team K League, composed of domestic all-star players. Following this, on the 16th, a match between Spanish professional club Sevilla FC and Tottenham is scheduled at Suwon World Cup Stadium. Both matches held by Tottenham in Korea this time will be broadcast live exclusively on Coupang Play.
In addition, the drama 'Anna,' starring actress Suzy, is currently gaining attention. Coupang plans to release the sitcom 'Unicorn' starring actor Shin Ha-kyun and 'National Team: Road to Qatar,' a documentary about national soccer players' challenge for the World Cup.
The strong performance of Coupang Play is expected by the industry to contribute not only to the 'lock-in' effect that retains the over 9 million Coupang Wow Membership members as of the first quarter of this year but also to a net increase effect. Wow members no longer regard Coupang Play, which is provided free of charge, as a secondary service, and the number of people joining Wow Membership to watch Coupang Play is expected to increase. An industry insider explained, "Since launching Coupang Wow Membership in 2019, Coupang has continuously expanded membership benefits based on ongoing investment," adding, "Through investment in OTT, they are creating a virtuous cycle structure where Wow membership subscriptions increase and repurchase rates rise."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
