Single-Person Households Not Watching TV... Watch 35% Less IPTV

Low TV Ownership and Viewing via Smartphones and Laptops
"Subscriber Competition Intensifies as Single-Person Households Continue to Increase"

The subscription rate for Internet TV (IPTV) among single-person households was found to be 35 percentage points lower compared to three-generation households. A red light has been lit for the growth of the paid broadcasting industry.

According to the report "The Spread of Single-Person Households and Changes in Media Usage" by the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) on the 9th, last year, the subscription rate for paid broadcasting among single-person households in Korea was 85.3%, which is lower than that of single-generation households (97.1%), two-generation households (96.0%), and three-generation households (98.7%). Compared to the three-generation households with the highest subscription rate, there is a 13.4 percentage point difference.

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The subscription rate for cable broadcasting, which is cheaper, is relatively high, but the IPTV subscription rate, which is more expensive than cable, is low at 33.8%. The subscription rate for single-generation households is 46.2%, for two-generation households 68.5%, and for three-generation households 68.8%. Compared to the three-generation households with the highest subscription rate, there is a 35 percentage point difference.

Single-person households also have a lower TV ownership rate and prefer to watch content using devices other than TV. The TV ownership rate for single-person households is 90.4%. In contrast, the TV ownership rate is 98.4% for single-generation households, 97.7% for two-generation households, and 100% for three-generation households. The TV viewing rate (using TV five or more days a week) for single-person households is 69.5%, indicating they do not watch TV much. This is significantly different from 92.6% for single-generation households, 71.4% for two-generation households, and 77.4% for three-generation households. When watching online video services (OTT), they use smartphones (89.9%) or laptops (18.1%). The percentage who responded that they watch on TV was 12.8%, which is up to 5.3 percentage points lower than other household types.

The paid broadcasting industry is also paying close attention to changes in viewing behavior due to the increase in single-person households. According to the Statistics Korea’s future household projections, the proportion of single-person households in Korea has steadily increased every year from 31.2% in 2020 to 32.8% in 2021 and 33.6% in 2022. As the number of single-person households not subscribing to paid broadcasting increases, the growth rate of paid broadcasting subscribers is also declining. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT’s survey, the growth rate of paid broadcasting subscribers in the second half of last year was 0.67% compared to the previous half-year, marking the first time growth was below 1%. Kang Guk-hyun, head of KT’s Customer Division, said at a media day event last month, "The biggest risk factor for IPTV is population decline and low marriage rates."

The industry is responding by revamping platforms to be more suitable for OTT viewing or launching premium set-top boxes. They aim to provide a differentiated viewing experience from other devices. Last month, KT launched the 'Genie TV All-in-One Soundbar,' which combines a router and an artificial intelligence (AI) speaker with an IPTV set-top box. Earlier, LG Uplus released the 'Soundbar Black' equipped with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, and SK Broadband introduced the 'AI Sound Max' featuring Bang & Olufsen and AI 'NUGU.' KT revamped 'Olleh TV' into 'Genie TV,' positioning it as an OTT portal, and LG Uplus transformed 'U+tv' into an OTT TV. SK Broadband launched 'B tv pop,' a next-generation cable TV service offering IPTV-level services on cable TV.

Jung Yong-chan, head of the ICT Data Science Research Division at KISDI, stated, "If the trend of increasing single-person households continues, competition to secure paid broadcasting subscribers is expected to intensify."