Tving challenges Netflix by riding on baseball broadcasts' popularity
Seen is a preview photo for the Korea Baseball Organization League baseball match between Hanwha Eagles and Lotte Giants on June 28, broadcast by Tving. Courtesy of Tving
Tving, CJ ENM's online streaming platform, is closing in on Netflix, the most popular streaming platformer here, thanks to the content it offers exclusively, such as online exclusive broadcasts of Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League games, industry officials and analysts said Monday.
Since March, Tving has been exclusively providing online streaming for KBO League, one of the most popular professional sports leagues in Korea, after signing a contract with the KBO for the streaming service from 2024 to 2026 for a total of 135 billion won ($98 million).
Thanks to the baseball game streaming service, Tving has narrowed the gap with the dominant market leader Netflix and is now ranked second in terms of daily active users (DAU).
According to data from market tracker Mobileindex, Tving and Netflix recorded an average DAU of 1.94 million and 2.26 million, respectively, from June 1 to 21.
The DAU gap between these two service providers has decreased from 1.49 million in January to 0.31 million in June, shrinking by about 80 percent in just five months.
Choi Yong-hyun, an analyst at KB Securities, noted that despite Tving charging for the KBO League broadcasts since May, there was not that much subscription churn, indicating that popular sports broadcasts are boosting the platform's competitiveness.
"Tving is showing robust traffic indicators despite the second quarter's subscription fee increase for existing subscribers and the beginning of the paid service for the KBO League content," the analyst said.
Having experienced the power of the KBO League, Tving is strengthening its sports broadcasting. On June 27, CJ ENM signed a broadcasting rights contract with the Korean Basketball League (KBL), the governing body of the country's professional basketball league, and Tving plans to provide exclusive online streaming of basketball games starting with the 2024-2025 season, which begins in October.
Actors Byeon Woo-seok, right, and Kim Hye-yoon are seen in a scene from the tvN drama “Lovely Runner.” Courtesy of tvN
Tving is also seeing an increase in viewership among women thanks to its exclusive supply of dramas broadcast through CJ ENM's cable channel tvN.
Tving offers tvN dramas such as "Marry My Husband," "Queen of Tears" and "Lovely Runner." Notably, "Lovely Runner," which aired until the end of May, is a Tving exclusive.
By catering to womens' tastes, Tving's average DAU among women increased to 1.22 million from March to May, up by 12 percent from 950,000 during the December-February period.