"3 Million Won in 4 Hours"... This Job, Entered by Celebrities, Earned 500 Billion Won Last Year

It has been revealed that BJs (Broadcast Jockeys) active on AfreecaTV earned nearly 500 billion KRW last year through star balloons and other means.

In the '2023 ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Report' recently released by Soop (formerly AfreecaTV), the 'streamer distribution amount' paid to AfreecaTV BJs last year was recorded at 476.1 billion KRW. This represents a 22.7% increase compared to the previous year (388.1 billion KRW).

Former Lovelyz member Seo Jisoo, who debuted as a BJ on AfreecaTV [Photo by AfreecaTV capture]

The streamer distribution amount paid by Soop to BJs has been increasing every year. The distribution amount, which was 153.1 billion KRW in 2018, rose to 195.7 billion KRW in 2019, 251.5 billion KRW in 2020, and 346.3 billion KRW in 2021.

The streamer distribution amount includes star balloon fees and subscription fees, of which about 90% came from star balloon revenue. Star balloons are a type of cash-equivalent gift that fans watching AfreecaTV send to BJs as support. When viewers send star balloons, AfreecaTV and the BJ share the revenue at approximately a 3 to 7 ratio.

Currently, there are about 30,000 BJs active on AfreecaTV, and the monthly user count is estimated to exceed 2 million. Popular BJs earn monthly incomes in the hundreds of millions of KRW. Popular BJ 'Commander Zico' reportedly earned more than 30 billion KRW last year alone. Haielrin (Elin), a former member of the girl group Crayon Pop who is now active as a BJ on AfreecaTV, reportedly received star balloons worth 800 million KRW over a period of 1 year and 2 months from a male fan. Recently, Seo Jisoo, a former member of the girl group Lovelyz, debuted as an AfreecaTV BJ and earned 3 million KRW within 4 hours, drawing attention.

Thanks to the strong performance of star balloons, Soop is expected to achieve its highest-ever performance this year. According to financial information firm FnGuide, Soop's annual revenue and operating profit consensus (average estimate by securities firms) for this year are 424.9 billion KRW and 117.4 billion KRW, respectively, representing increases of 22.2% and 30.0% compared to the previous year. Both revenue and operating profit are at record highs.

Meanwhile, AfreecaTV has struggled to shed a negative image due to controversies involving some BJs engaging in excessive exposure to receive more star balloons. In response, AfreecaTV changed its company name to Soop in March and has been making efforts to revamp its image, including changing the BJ title to 'streamer' (a person who streams).