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.
SKT, Naver team up for sports broadcasting services to rival LG, Coupang
A person watches a Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League baseball game using SK Telecom’s A. service. SK Telecom said Thursday that it signed a partnership deal with Naver and AfreecaTV to launch an AI-based sports broadcasting service. Courtesy of SK Telecom
By Baek Byung-yeul
SK Telecom has forged partnerships with domestic internet companies Naver and AfreecaTV to jointly utilize artificial intelligence (AI) media technology and launch customized sports broadcasting services, the mobile carrier said, Thursday.
The three companies announced that they signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly utilize AI media technology. Through this MOU, they plan to provide customized sports broadcasting services and advertisements.
"This MOU aims to jointly utilize the AI media technology possessed by each company to contribute to the development of the sports industry and provide customized services suitable for the AI era," SK Telecom said.
"We plan to introduce a system that automatically analyzes the frequency and exposure time of advertisements in broadcasts using AI, and automatically recognizes advertisements in the broadcast and changes them to advertisements targeting viewers," SK Telecom added.
The move is being interpreted as SK Telecom's attempt to compete against LG Uplus, which is receiving a good response to its sports broadcasting services that use AI technology, and the e-commerce company Coupang.
LG Uplus is providing the AI sports broadcasting platform Sporki, and Coupang is providing the video streaming service Coupang Play to Coupang Wow membership customers. Coupang Play also offers sports broadcasts such as the K-League and the National Football League.
Through this agreement, SK Telecom said that it plans to expand the service to include baseball, golf, basketball and volleyball in 2024.
The agreement is expected to provide a rich and personalized sports experience for users, given Naver recently launched a new video streaming platform called CHZZK, which is focused on game streaming.
Naver is trying to fill the void left by Twitch, which recently announced its withdrawal from the Korean market as of Feb. 27. AfreecaTV is also stepping up its game and sports streaming services, by rebranding its service name to SOOP to better attract global audiences.