"Strengthening OTT Global Competitiveness"… Ministry of Culture and Content Korea Lab Collaborate with 5 Native OTT Companies

Production Company and IP Jointly Owned OTT Content
Up to 3 Billion KRW Production Cost Support

"The broadcasting and video industry, including OTT, is the core of K-content. I believe this business agreement is a small but great step, as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korea Creative Content Agency, and major OTT operators gathered in one place to pledge mutual growth. Although interests surrounding IP are sharp, we will continue to consider ways to grow together through IP." (Yoo In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism)

Yoon In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is taking a commemorative photo after signing an agreement with the representatives of five major domestic online video service companies to strengthen the global competitiveness of the online video service (OTT) and broadcasting video content industry, together with the Korea Creative Content Agency, at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul on the 28th in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
From the left: Park Tae-hoon, CEO of Watcha; Jung Hyun-joo, LG Uplus Center Director (Executive Vice President); Choi Joo-hee, CEO of TVING; Yoon In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Lee Tae-hyun, CEO of Content Wave; Kim Sung-han, CEO of Coupang Play; Cho Hyun-rae, President of Korea Creative Content Agency.
[Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]

The government will support production costs up to 3 billion KRW for OTT content that meets the condition of joint ownership of intellectual property rights (IP) between OTT platforms and production companies.

On the 28th, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency signed a "Business Agreement to Strengthen the Global Competitiveness of the OTT Content Industry" including this content with five major domestic OTT platforms at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul.

The agreement includes domestic OTT companies TVING, Wavve, LG Uplus Mobile TV, Coupang Play, and Watcha.

According to this business agreement, the government and the OTT industry will promote "production and investment cooperation for broadcasting video content linked to OTT platforms based on production company IP acquisition."

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency plan to support production costs up to 3 billion KRW each for competitive dramas, entertainment shows, and documentaries on the condition of content investment cooperation between the government and OTT, joint IP ownership between OTT and production companies, and scheduling and broadcasting within OTT platforms.

The Ministry expects that through this agreement, OTT platforms will attract excellent content to enhance competitiveness, and production companies will be able to create mid- to long-term revenue models by owning IP. So far, in the broadcasting and video industry, there have been many cases where global OTTs monopolize IP, which is a core element of revenue generation, causing concerns.

The business agreement also includes plans to strengthen the competitiveness of native OTTs by promoting projects for the global expansion of OTT platforms and broadcasting video content. Accordingly, the Ministry and the Content Agency will support ▲building metadata to provide customer-tailored content ▲digital remastering to improve video quality and sound ▲overseas formatting considering the standards of foreign broadcasters and OTTs when exporting content. Measures to assist native OTTs' participation in overseas broadcasting and video markets will also be prepared.

Yoon In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is giving a greeting speech at the business agreement ceremony to strengthen the global competitiveness of the online video service (OTT) and broadcasting video content industry held on the 28th at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Jongno-gu.
[Photo by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism]


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Additionally, the Ministry and the Content Agency will support subtitles, sign language, and audio description broadcasting to create a barrier-free environment in the OTT platform ecosystem.

The Ministry and the Content Agency have achieved meaningful results by supporting the production of broadcasting video content such as "Strong Woman Kang Nam-soon," "Flowers Bloom at Night," and "Boy's Generation." This year, they will support the entire cycle of broadcasting video content from planning and production to distribution.

In the broadcasting video content production support project, the previously unconsidered "IP acquisition capability and willingness" will be newly reflected in the task selection evaluation. The OTT specialized content production support project, which is the subject of this business agreement, requires "joint IP ownership" and "first broadcast on the OTT that signed the business agreement" as conditions. Works benefiting from general and specialized support projects will also receive support for post-production.

Content distribution and overseas expansion support projects will also be carried out together. They will participate in overseas broadcasting and video markets such as Hong Kong, France, and Vietnam to introduce K-content and native OTTs, and in August, they will hold Asia's largest international broadcasting and video market in Korea to connect domestic and foreign buyers.

Details of each project and the application period can be found on the Korea Creative Content Agency website. The OTT specialized content production support project will be announced on the 29th and accept applications until March 18.