Studio Dragon announced on May 8 that it recorded consolidated sales of 133.8 billion KRW and an operating profit of 4.3 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year. These figures represent decreases of 30.3% and 80.1%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. Net profit also fell by 88.3% to 2.4 billion KRW.
The decline in performance was attributed to a reduction of approximately 16.9% in the total number of episodes aired compared to the previous year, as well as the absence of globally simultaneous OTT (over-the-top) releases except for "Ask the Stars." The number of globally simultaneous releases dropped by about 70% year-on-year. Additionally, there was a high base effect from the global success of "Queen of Tears" and "Marry My Husband" in the first quarter of last year.
The major titles in the first quarter received positive reviews for both quality and popularity. The tvN and Tving co-produced drama "Wonkyung" ranked first in cable and general programming channel ratings during its time slot, while its follow-up, "The Tyrant Is a Black Dragon," ranked first in 109 countries for four consecutive weeks on the global OTT platform Rakuten Viki. The Tving original "Study Group" drew attention for its fresh subject matter and the action performances of new actors, ranking first in the number of paid subscriber contributors for five consecutive weeks.
From the second quarter, the lineup will be further strengthened. Starting with tvN's "Please Take Care of This Week's Alcohol," starring Choi Sooyoung and Gong Myung, which premieres on May 12, "Unknown Seoul" starring Park Boyoung and Park Jinyoung, and the Netflix mystery melodrama historical series "Tangeum" will be released sequentially. The Japanese remake of the Korean drama "Marry My Husband" (original title: 私の夫と結婚して), planned and produced by Studio Dragon, will be the company's first Japanese-language drama and will air on Amazon Prime Video. Studio Dragon plans to accelerate local production starting with this project.
A Studio Dragon representative stated, "Over 60% of this year's entire lineup is concentrated in the second half, so we expect a performance trend of lower results in the first half and higher results in the second half." The representative added, "In the second quarter, we plan to mitigate the impact of reduced TV drama output by supplying OTT originals, and in the second half, we will strengthen growth momentum by resuming the Wednesday-Thursday drama block and expanding local production in Japan."
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