Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Wavve receives lukewarm responses
Seen is a webpage of video streaming service Wavve. / Captured from Wavve
By Baek Byung-yeul
By Baek Byung-yeul
An image shows Wavve streaming service receives bad responses from users on Google Play app store. / Captured from Google Play
Wavve, a new video streaming service launched by three major TV broadcasters ― KBS, MBC and SBS ― and SK Telecom got off to a rocky start as users have complained of poor streaming quality and a lack of enjoyable content.
With the aim of taking on streaming giant Netflix, the broadcasters and the mobile carrier launched the unified platform that combines the media companies' Pooq streaming service with the latter's Oksusu service on Sept. 18.
The joint venture Content Wavve said it will invest 300 billion won ($250 million) by 2023 to secure more than 5 million paid subscribers and annual sales of 500 billion won.
However, it has received a much lower-than-expected response from users. The mobile streaming service garnered more than 5 million downloads only through Google's Play app store but it has scored 2.2 out of 5 from some 28,000 users.
One of the biggest complaints Wavve users have is unstable service quality. Users have complained that videos load slowly or keep buffering, and that they are unable to enjoy media from cable channels JTBC and tvN.
The other grievance is that they cannot enjoy the free movies or TV shows offered to Oksusu users who have paid for a high-price SK Telecom plan.
“Compared to Tving ― another streaming service operated by CJ ENM ― I am getting distorted images and buffering issues. I am subscribing to a full HD service but it feels like I am watching videos with standard (SD) quality resolution,” a Wavve user posted on the Google Play app store.
Another user compared the Wavve service with Oksusu saying the former has a poor service quality in comparison.
“Wavve is better than Oksusu for offering live programs of major broadcasters but it is inconvenient that I am not able to use some of the services I enjoyed with Oksusu. Even though I wasn't subscribed to Oksusu, I could enjoy free movies or TV shows but there's no such content on Wavve,” the user wrote.
Wavve said it has acknowledged the complaints and added it will offer improved services to users.
“As our service is based on Pooq, many Oksusu users are dissatisfied with Wavve because it feels unfamiliar. We have acknowledged that we have received a disappointing response and we will try to offer a more enhanced service,” a Wavve official said.
“Unlike Oksusu, which had aggressively conducted marketing activities with free movies or shows, we are enabling users to enjoy more than 1,000 movies if they pay a monthly subscription fee of at least 7,900 won ($6.60),” the official added.
Wavve added it will concentrate more on launching its own Netflix-like original content. It is scheduled to launch “The Tale of Nokdu,” a romantic comedy drama based on the Joseon Kingdom era (1392-1910).
“Wavve invested 100 percent in its original drama 'The Tale of Nokdu.' Wavve users who pay their monthly subscription fee will be able to enjoy the drama starting Sept. 30 and to let more consumers know about our service, the drama will be aired on KBS TV as well,” the Wavve official said.
Experts said Wavve streaming service can be positioned at the forefront of the streaming service market here if it enhances its service quality and comes up with attractive original content.
“Currently, Wavve has garnered about 1 million paid subscribers. Based on SK Telecom's competitiveness in mobile service and content development capability of the broadcasters, Wavve aims to improve the number of paid users. It remains to be seen whether it can offer attractive original contents or not and 'The Tale of Nokdu' will become a test case for that,” Hwang Sung-jin, an analyst at Hyundai Motor Securities, said.