"Streaming Without Application"... Naver Increases Intensity of Chijijik Attacks

Crackle, Aggressive Marketing Before Twitch Service Ends
AfricanTV's Counterattack with 'Sup' Launch... Surpasses Peak Viewership

Naver Chijijik is launching aggressive marketing efforts to capture the market from the existing operator, AfreecaTV. With the global streaming platform Twitch ending its domestic service at the end of this month, it appears to be shaking up the market structure.

According to industry sources on the 8th, Chijijik plans to grant broadcasting rights without an application process starting from the 19th of this month. Softcon Viewership, an internet broadcasting ranking site, stated, "Chijijik announced that from the 19th it will allow all streamers to broadcast without applications, and the week from the 20th to the 27th, the day Twitch ends its service, is expected to be very important."

Chijijik is also launching a creator support project worth 5 billion KRW, including providing a total of 2 billion KRW in content production funds to streamers. Since launching its beta service on December 19 last year, it has recruited popular streamers such as 'Handongsuk' and 'Pungwollyang,' and 'Bokyem,' who has 3.44 million YouTube subscribers, is also likely to transfer, aiming for more tangible results.

The aggressive move by Chijijik is based on the judgment that the timing of Twitch’s service termination is ideal to catch up with AfreecaTV. According to Softcon Viewership, AfreecaTV’s peak viewers in the past week were 351,290, recorded at 10:50 PM on the 4th of this month. The average viewers during that period were 134,325. On the other hand, Chijijik, emerging as a rival to AfreecaTV, had a peak viewership of 118,426 and an average of 45,109 over the week. AfreecaTV leads by about three times in peak viewers and also shows superiority in average viewers.

However, AfreecaTV’s counterattack is formidable. AfreecaTV has maintained influence in the domestic streaming market. Securities analysts predict that AfreecaTV’s revenue last year reached around 340 billion KRW, setting a record high and marking the 12th consecutive year of maximum revenue since 2011. Ahead of the streaming market upheaval, AfreecaTV plans to launch the global streaming platform 'SOOP' in the first half of this year and change its domestic service name. Additionally, it intends to expand comprehensive game support.

Chijijik’s risk management ability, which will be tested after lifting restrictions on streamers’ broadcasting rights, is also a crucial point in the competition. Since live broadcasts are allowed for all streamers, the ability to block and manage harmful content such as violence and propaganda is important. If harmful content causes controversy, it could lead to brand image damage, viewer loss, and weakened competitiveness. Previously, a female streamer on Chijijik caused controversy by wearing a T-shirt with a Rising Sun flag during a broadcast. Chijijik revised its terms of use to restrict streamers who express hate speech and plans to strengthen filtering by applying artificial intelligence (AI) technology.