"OTT Usage Rate 77%... YouTube and Netflix in Order"

KCC's '2023 Broadcast Media Usage Survey'
Only 30% of people in their 20s watch TV 5+ days a week
OTT usage among people in their 50s up 10.8%p from last year

The usage rate of online video services (OTT) increased to 77.0% this year, with YouTube overwhelmingly being the most used OTT platform.

According to the results of the "2023 Broadcasting Media Usage Survey" conducted by the Korea Communications Commission on 7,055 men and women aged 13 and older living in 4,633 households nationwide on the 28th, the OTT usage rate this year was 77.0%, up 5.0 percentage points from last year. By age group, the usage rates were highest among those in their 20s (97.8%) and teens (97.6%). Those in their 50s also increased by 10.8 percentage points to 81.0% compared to the previous year. The 60s (61.0%) and those aged 70 and older (23.2%) also rose by 6.6 percentage points and 6.9 percentage points, respectively, compared to last year.

Source=Korea Communications Commission

Watching OTT on smartphones accounted for 86.3%, about four times higher than on TV sets (22.1%). The most frequently used OTT platform was YouTube at 71.0%, followed by Netflix at 35.7%, and TVING and Coupang Play at 9.1% and 6.3%, respectively.

Smartphone ownership increased mainly among older age groups. According to the survey, smartphone ownership among those in their 60s was 96.2%, and among those aged 70 and older was 66.5%, increasing by 2.4 percentage points and 7.3 percentage points, respectively, compared to the previous year. Ownership rates for those aged 10 to 50 were saturated at over 99%. The overall ownership rate across all age groups was 94.8%, up 1.4 percentage points from the previous year. The proportion of older adults recognizing smartphones as an essential medium is also on the rise. Among those in their 60s, this figure has steadily increased over the past three years to 48.0%, and for those aged 70 and older, it rose by 5.2 percentage points to 19.6% compared to the previous year.

As essential media in daily life, smartphones accounted for 70.0%, and TV for 27.2%, showing similar levels to the previous year. The proportion of people recognizing desktops/laptops, radios, newspapers, and others as essential media was below 2%, similar to the previous year.

While smartphone usage increased, TV usage frequency decreased. The response rate for using smartphones five or more days a week was 91.4%, whereas TV usage (71.4%) declined compared to the previous year. In particular, the rate of TV usage five or more days a week among those in their 20s and 30s dropped by more than 10 percentage points to 29.8% and 55.2%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

Source=Korea Communications Commission

The "2023 Broadcasting Media Usage Survey" report will be available on the Korea Communications Commission website and the Broadcasting Statistics Portal website.