Over 4,400 AI-Dubbed K-Media and Content Titles to Be Broadcast in Over 20 Countries Worldwide

Expanding 'K-Channels' Worldwide
Enhancing Local Competitiveness by Meeting the Demand for Dubbing Over Subtitles

Over 4,400 pieces of K-media and content dubbed using artificial intelligence (AI) will be broadcast to more than 20 countries?including North America, Central and South America, Europe, and Asia?through Korea's global media platform "K-FAST."

"FAST" stands for Free Ad-supported Streaming TV. The global FAST market is projected to reach $12 billion (approximately 17 trillion KRW) and 1.1 billion users by 2027.

[Table] AI Dubbing Specialized K-FAST Support Project K-Channel Status (Partial). Provided by Ministry of Science and ICT

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Information and Communication Promotion Association announced on July 30 that, as a result of the "AI Dubbing Specialized K-FAST Expansion Support" project call, they have selected 20 K-channels from 6 consortiums as the final participants.

The "AI Dubbing Specialized K-FAST Expansion Support" project aims to expand K-channels that utilize AI-based dubbing to enhance viewer immersion and local competitiveness, in response to the demand from local viewers who prefer dubbing over subtitles. This is achieved through K-FAST, Korea's global media platform with 140 million monthly users worldwide.

To support this project, the Ministry of Science and ICT allocated an additional budget of 8 billion KRW in May. After a public call for participants, presentation evaluations, and budget reviews and adjustments, six consortium operators with strong media and content competitiveness were selected: NEW ID, Dost Eleven, CJ OliveNetworks, UnAIAI, ESTsoft, and Hudson AI.

The consortiums, comprised of six leading companies (specializing in AI dubbing) and 22 participating companies including KBS Media, will collaborate to carry out essential localization tasks for the overseas expansion of K-media and content. These tasks include dubbing, image quality enhancement, and audio removal/replacement using AI technology, with the goal of establishing 20 K-channels.

The AI dubbing-specialized K-channels will include 7 drama channels, 5 variety channels, 3 movie channels, 1 K-POP channel, and 4 others (game, travel, current affairs/culture, and general). The dubbing languages will be diverse, including 12 channels in English, 7 in Spanish, and 1 in Portuguese.

Through this initiative, K-FAST's K-channels will secure over 1,400 hours of AI-dubbed content, and a total of more than 4,400 pieces of K-media and content will be sequentially broadcast to over 20 countries?including North America, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania?starting from the fourth quarter of this year.

Kang Doseong, Director of Broadcasting Promotion Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, "By combining K-FAST with AI localization technology, we will establish a foundation for the global expansion of our unique K-media and content. We will actively support K-channels so that they can take root in the global market through public-private collaboration models."