Netflix, YouTube unlikely to budge on Korea's call for lowering streaming fees

President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, poses with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, left, and "Squid Game" star Lee Jung-jae at Yoon's official residence in Seoul, Saturday. Courtesy of presidential office

The government’s ongoing efforts to curb rising streaming fees are expected to weigh only on Korean service providers without exerting much influence on market-dominant global players, such as Netflix and YouTube, according to industry officials, Monday.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who visited Seoul last week, ruled out the possibility of his company accepting the request from the government and consumers to lower subscription fees.

“No change in price now,” he told reporters during his brief meeting with the Korean press on Friday.

After his meeting with President Yoon Suk Yeol and “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae at Yoon’s residence on Saturday, neither the presidential office nor the U.S. streaming service provider mentioned this issue in their press releases.

The presidential office reportedly ordered the Ministry of Science and ICT recently to draw up measures to prevent the so-called streamflation, a portmanteau of streaming and inflation.

The ministry said that nothing has been decided on whether the government will push ahead with policies to ease the burden on streaming service subscribers.

“Amid the lingering concerns over heavier burdens on consumers due to rising streaming fees, we asked domestic and international streaming service providers to explain the current situation,” the ministry said in a press release.

However, the presidential office told reporters that the administration is thinking of various measures for consumers without any direct interference in the market. These measures are expected to be announced during a forthcoming government-public debate session on people’s livelihood issues, presided over by Yoon.

Local streaming service providers, including Tving, Wavve and Coupang Play, said they would have no choice but to follow the government’s request, unlike their foreign competitors, who can cite their global price policies as the reason for refusal.

“Korean companies will fall farther behind their foreign rivals in terms of the size of investments, facing deterioration in their competitiveness in the market,” an industry official said.