[CEO Rivals] Battle for No.1 Native OTT... Tving Yang Ji-eul VS Wavve Lee Tae-hyun

A Battle for 1st Place or a United Voice... Rivals and Comrades
Common Challenges: Performance, Overseas Expansion... Partnerships and Content Solutions

Tving and Wavve are engaged in a neck-and-neck battle for second place in the domestic online video service (OTT) market, where Netflix holds the top position. At the same time, they maintain a healthy competitive relationship, occasionally joining forces to survive in the OTT market, which has become a red ocean.

According to IGAWorks' 'Mobile Index,' in February, Netflix maintained its lead with 11.51 million monthly users, followed by Tving with 4.75 million users in second place, and Wavve ranked fourth with 3.76 million users. Until the first half of last year, Wavve was ahead, but after Tving merged with Season, its user numbers surged significantly. Although they compete for the top spot among native OTTs, the CEOs of both companies are founding members of the Korea OTT Council and speak with one voice on broadcasting policies. They also cooperate by jointly responding to music copyright fee lawsuits. They are rivals and comrades at the same time.

Additionally, Yang Ji-eul, CEO of Tving, and Lee Tae-hyun, CEO of Wavve, are alumni of Korea University. Lee, born in 1968, majored in Philosophy, while Yang, born in 1969, graduated from the Department of Spanish Language and Literature and the Wharton School. Although Lee is one year older, they graduated in the same year, 1994. They are close enough to meet personally from time to time.

CEO Yang Ji-eul leaps to native OTT No. 1 by acquiring 'Season'

Recently, the biggest challenge for domestic OTTs is overseas expansion. Due to massive content investment costs, it is impossible to make money solely from the Korean market. Last year, Tving partnered with Paramount+, the OTT service of Paramount, one of Hollywood's Big Five studios. Tving opened a Paramount+ brand zone and jointly invested in content such as director Lee Joon-ik's first OTT directorial work, 'Yonder.' The acquisition of Season through a partnership with KT, propelling Tving to the top native OTT position in one leap, is also seen as a reflection of CEO Yang’s management style.

CEO Yang is a strategy expert in the new media and IT fields. He worked on media and entertainment planning at Samsung Electronics and served as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group, where he consulted for Melon, the nation's top music streaming service. He also held positions as Vice President of Strategic Planning at digital media software company RealNetworks and Vice President of Strategic Planning, New Business Development, and Partnerships at network infrastructure and service platform company Actility.

CEO Yang signed a partnership with Naver and Naver Plus Membership, attracting Naver Plus users and significantly increasing subscribers. Although the exact number of subscribers was not disclosed, it is known that subscribers tripled within a year after the 2021 partnership. He also launched partnership subscription plans by collaborating with KT and LG Uplus, excluding SK Telecom, which is affiliated with Wavve.

CEO Lee Tae-hyun breaks through head-on with 'K-Content'

Wavve’s challenge is also globalization, like Tving’s. However, Wavve has adopted a content production-centered strategy to break through overseas market barriers with the power of K-content. In December last year, it acquired the K-content platform 'Cocowa' and is targeting the North American market with original content.

CEO Lee is a content expert who started as a KBS PD. He joined KBS as a PD in 1994 and produced major programs such as 'Dool’s Analects Story,' '6 O’Clock My Hometown,' and 'Chase 60 Minutes.' He served as a New York PD correspondent, head of programming policy at the Content Creativity Center, executive producer of the KBS World channel, and director of the Content Business Bureau. In 2019, he was appointed CEO of Content Union Platform, the provider of 'Pooq,' and later launched Wavve, demonstrating his deep understanding of the OTT market. Wavve’s ability to select and produce content in-house stems from CEO Lee’s background.

Last year, Wavve released a total of 25 pieces of content, including 'Weak Hero' and 'Love Alarm: Jjak! Jjak! Jjak!' This year, there are already 10 pieces of content waiting to be broadcast. It has also attracted attention with bold content, such as the country’s first drama about LGBTQ+ romance. In partnerships and collaborations, Wavve focuses on content. While Tving chose Paramount for overseas expansion, Wavve partnered with HBO to secure popular content. HBO, famous for 'Harry Potter' and 'Game of Thrones,' has been providing content to Wavve since 2021. Wavve also receives dramas and variety shows from Kakao Entertainment.