LG Uplus to Grow Idleulnara as 'Kids Netflix'... Aiming for 1 Million Subscribers by 2027 (Comprehensive)

Aggressive Expansion Without Dropping Brand Name... Acquiring Competitors' Customers via Apps and Smart TVs
Service Differentiation Through Interactive Content, Personalized Recommendations, and Analytics
"Considering Spin-off... Timing Undecided"

Jongwook Park from Idulnara CO is announcing the Idulnara service. Photo by LG Uplus

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] LG Uplus announced that it will revamp 'Idleulnara' into a kids' online video service (OTT) and nurture it as the 'Netflix for kids.' The company plans to remove the LG Uplus brand name and expand the service nationwide, aiming to secure 1 million domestic and international subscribers within five years.

On the 10th, LG Uplus held a briefing at its Yongsan headquarters in Seoul and revealed that it will transform the IPTV-based infant media platform U+Idleulnara into a mobile-based kids-only OTT service called 'Idleulnara,' targeting young children and their parents.

G Uplus models using the Idleunara OTT service. Photo by LG Uplus

Removing Brand Name and Announcing Aggressive Market Expansion... "We Will Become the 'Kids Netflix'"

LG Uplus unveiled a new brand identity (BI) with the goal of making Idleulnara a nationwide service by fully revamping it from an IPTV add-on service to a kids OTT. To accept subscribers from other companies, it also removed the 'U+' from the existing brand name. This marks the first full-scale service overhaul in five years since Idleulnara was launched as an IPTV add-on service in 2017.

Jong-wook Park, Executive Vice President and Head of Idleulnara at LG Uplus, said, "We plan to expand Idleulnara into an OTT to increase customer service usage time," adding, "We will continuously expand services and content that satisfy both children and parent customers to nurture it as the Netflix of the kids OTT market."

Through content differentiation, the company aims to reach 1 million subscribers domestically and internationally by 2027. It plans to target the corporate (B2B) education market such as kindergartens and also has plans for global market expansion.

Park said, "Until 2024, we will focus on the domestic business to gather subscribers, then enter the global market targeting Southeast Asia, where Korean expatriates raising children and K-content have competitive advantages," adding, "We will secure profitability through platform business. We plan to gather many subscribers and develop data-based add-on services."

Earlier in September, Hwang Hyun-sik, CEO of LG Uplus, named the growth care platform, which includes Idleulnara, as one of the four major platforms leading the Uplus 3.0 era. Although specific plans have not been finalized, he indicated a high possibility that Idleulnara will be the first spin-off.

Regarding the spin-off plan, Park said, "We cannot disclose the timing, but we are considering a spin-off when business results appear and when there are many investors interested in Idleulnara."

Children's Country OTT Differentiation. Photo by LG Uplus

Distinguished by Interactive Content and Metadata-Based Content Recommendations... Plans for Global Expansion

The revamped Idleulnara features a total of about 50,000 pieces of content, including approximately 10,000 interactive contents, a personalized content recommendation service based on 1,200 detailed metadata categories, and a 'Our Child Growth Report' based on usage history. The service was planned based on interviews with parents of young children.

Newly added interactive content includes 'Video Reading' where teachers conduct post-reading activities, 'Touchbook' (218 titles) that responds to touch, '3D Augmented Reality (AR) Stereoscopic Books' (600 titles), 'Coding' learned through storybooks (338 titles), and 'Disney Learning+' (3,200 titles) for English learning through Disney cartoons.

To strengthen Idleulnara's competitiveness, LG Uplus has focused on securing original content.

Hyun-il Moon, Head of Business at Idleulnara CO, LG Uplus, said, "Since last year, we have been preparing original content such as Seol Min-seok's World History Adventure and Egg Doctor and Nature Friends," adding, "We plan to gradually expand content starting with science and curiosity topics that children enjoy by listening to customer feedback."

Park explained, "To strengthen OTT competitiveness, simply aggregating distributed content is meaningless; it is important to produce a lot of content that customers want," adding, "We will continue to increase investment in original content."

Idleulnara expands digital touchpoints not only for young children but also for parents. Using verified diagnostic tests, it analyzes the tendencies of children and parents and recommends personalized content to support child growth by utilizing metadata from 1,200 content categories. Based on one month of usage history, it provides a 'Our Child Growth Report' service showing activity status such as content viewing and quiz participation. This differentiates it from existing services that simply recommend content based on viewing data or only show content usage status.

Idleulnara is available on smartphones and tablet PCs. U+tv users can watch services excluding interactive content on IPTV. LG Uplus also plans to develop a smart TV service to allow subscribers of other companies' IPTV to use the service.

The monthly subscription fee is 25,000 KRW (VAT included), with the first month free. Additionally, if subscribed by the end of January 2023, users can continue the service at a 60% discounted rate of 9,900 KRW per month (VAT included).

Park said, "Our dream as Idleulnara staff is to hear children talk fondly about Idleulnara after they grow up and for parents to say their children grew well thanks to Idleulnara," adding, "To achieve this dream, we will continue to listen to customer feedback and improve to enhance completeness."