"Shareholder Approval Still Pending"
Global Expansion to Accelerate in the Second Half of the Year
Wavve CEO: "Cannibalization Must Be Avoided"
"I held back because I thought it might be a sensitive topic, but when will the merger between TVING and Wavve take place? Will we have an answer soon?"
Ryu Jemyung, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, directly asked the CEOs of TVING and Wavve about the timing of the merger between Korea's leading online video service (OTT) platforms.
This exchange took place at the 'On-site Meeting for AI Innovation in the Domestic OTT FAST Industry' held at the Paradise Hotel in Busan on the 22nd, attended by Vice Minister Ryu, Joohee Choi, CEO of TVING, and Jangho Seo, CEO of Content Wavve.
This meeting was part of the 'International Streaming Festival' (formerly the International OTT Festival), held for the third time this year, and discussed measures to foster domestic content and media platforms, as well as ways to apply artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
At the event, Vice Minister Ryu said, "I was hesitant to ask because it might be a sensitive issue, but when will the merger between TVING and Wavve take place?" He added, "There are also comments that the government should play a role in this. Will we have an answer soon?"
In response, CEO Choi said, "We are still waiting for shareholder approval," and added, "Of course, we are hoping for support from the government as well." It is known that KT, one of TVING's major shareholders, has expressed reluctance regarding the merger.
CEO Seo commented, "In reality, it is extremely difficult to compete with our individual strengths," and emphasized, "Because we are cannibalizing each other, a swift merger and the provision of integrated services are absolutely necessary."
After the meeting, CEO Choi told reporters, "I fully expected the merger to happen within this year. I thought it would happen quickly, but the process keeps getting delayed," expressing disappointment. When asked by reporters if he thought it would be difficult to complete the merger within the year, he replied, "I don't think it's impossible."
CEO Choi expressed hopes that TVING's global expansion this year would serve as a turning point for business growth and improved performance. He said, "We have discussed overseas expansion with global partners for quite some time. This will become visible in the second half of the year."
According to the media industry, TVING is seeking to enter overseas markets such as the United States, Japan, and Southeast Asia by adopting a 'shop-in-shop' model, in which it is incorporated into local OTT platforms.
Regarding this, CEO Choi explained, "In some markets, we are simultaneously pursuing strategies to promote our service to customers through sufficient marketing and collaboration with local platforms using the shop-in-shop model, while in other markets, we may enter directly."
At the subsequent event, Yujin Kang, CSO of TVING, gave a presentation on the topic of 'K-OTT Growth Strategy.'
CSO Kang said regarding overseas expansion, "We are planning to launch in key regions by the end of this year based on B2B partnerships," and added, "We also plan to develop a B2C application by early next year and expand into various global regions."
He continued, "We are also planning to launch in regions outside the main markets, so if any global OTT or platform representatives here are interested, please let us know."
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