Disney to launch OTT service here next year
Disney Plus' corporate image. / Korea times file
By Kim Jae-heun
Disney's over-the-top (OTT) service Disney Plus is coming to Korea next year along with Hong Kong and some Eastern European countries, the U.S. entertainment giant said Saturday.
This is expected to intensify the local video streaming service market because Apple also plans to introduce its OTT service here in 2021.
It has not been revealed when Disney Plus will start its service, but an industry source said it would be sometime between January and June. It can either open its OTT service on its own or through internet protocol television (IPTV) in collaboration with one or two local mobile carriers as Netflix had done in the beginning.
Another option is to launch an exclusive service with local streaming service players like Wavve, tving and Seezn, which could save investment and marketing costs for Disney.
Apple is preparing its OTT business here too by recruiting career staff and adding Korean subtitles to its original content. It is said to be producing Korean TV shows like “Mr. Robin” and “Pachinko.”
High-profile translator Hwang Suk-hee said on social media that Disney Plus has started outsourcing translation work for its original content in Korean and that Apple TV Plus as well as Amazon's Prime Video were looking for translators.
When the two video streaming services join the local market, their competition against No.1 player Netflix is inevitable. Netflix has an overwhelming market share with its monthly active users (MAU) standing at 7,558,292 in August, according to market research firm Nielsen Korean Click. The number is double that of second-largest player Wavve's 3,879,730.
Disney has a big chance of threatening Netflix with its original content specializing in animation and Disney films.
Disney Plus gathers various content from its subsidiaries including Pixar, National Geographic, Marvel and Star Wars. It officially launched its OTT service in 30 countries last November and has 86.8 million members in total.
Disney recently announced that it will release 10 new Marvel and Star Wars series each over the next several years.
“Unlike the U.S. market, there is no cord-cutting phenomenon on the entry of new OTT service players. However, if Disney Plus and Apple TV try to expand their subscribers based on original content, the market will likely become saturated and lead people to terminate their subscriptions with other players,” an industry source said.
“Cord-cutting” is the practice of canceling or forgoing a cable television subscription or landline phone connection in favor of an alternative internet-based or wireless service, according to Oxford Languages.