Cross-platform partnership saves broadcasters, streaming services

The relationship between streaming platforms and broadcast networks is changing. Once considered competitors actively trying to poach each other's viewers, they are now sharing content and forging partnerships.

Streaming originals have increasingly premiered on broadcast television, while broadcast content is distributed on streaming platforms, reaching new audiences even after release.

The trend, continuing with MBC's "Anna" to "Bonjour Bakery" on KBS, is a prime example of the changing content distribution structure. Streaming platforms no longer confine their content to their own ecosystems, instead expanding into traditional broadcast networks. Broadcasters likewise view streaming services as partners capable of expanding their content offerings.

Previously, as domestic and foreign streaming platforms grew rapidly, audiences shifted from television to consuming content on demand through mobile devices, PCs and tablets. Broadcast networks experienced the double blow of falling ratings and a slumping advertising market. Conversely, streaming platforms viewed the powerful content and production capabilities of broadcasters as competitive hurdles to overcome.

However, the situation shifted as the streaming market became saturated. Streaming platforms found it difficult to sustain growth through an exclusive distribution model. Even after investing heavily into production, the sheer volume of titles meant simply releasing a title no longer guaranteed viewership.

Broadcast networks can introduce content to viewers unfamiliar with streaming platforms and renew public interest through the visibility of linear scheduling. If a streaming original garners renewed attention through a broadcast run, the content's commercial life cycle extends significantly.

"Anna" exemplifies cross-platform partnerships. Released as a Coupang Play original, the series reached a wider audience through broadcast after earning critical recognition on the streaming platform. It demonstrated that a program can reach the broader public once again through the traditional window of broadcast television.

This represents a structural shift, rather than just rebroadcasting streaming content on television. Platform boundaries are breaking down as content already proven on streaming services shifts to linear television to reach new viewers.

This trend recently expanded beyond specific platforms. Platforms producing content across various services, including domestic platforms like TVING, Wavve and Coupang Play, are increasingly partnering with broadcast networks.

"Bonjour Bakery" is an extension of this shift. As the lines blur between streaming and broadcast, the industry recognizes that a program's initial release platform and its final consumption window do not necessarily have to be the same.

Maximizing audience reach is more important than where the content first appears. For broadcasters, cooperation with streaming platforms is becoming a survival strategy rather than a choice.

While past industry consensus viewed streaming platforms as encroaching on broadcast territory, observers now view this cross-platform movement as a distribution strategy designed to maximize viewership.

Rising production costs make it increasingly burdensome to rely on an exclusive distribution model for a single title. For example, Genie TV failed to sustain its viewership base utilizing exclusive distribution, showing how recovering production costs and maximizing revenue requires utilizing multiple distribution channels, including broadcast television, streaming platforms and overseas distribution.

Cooperation between streaming platforms and broadcast networks, however, is not always positive. Producers are voicing concerns that acquiring external streaming content undermines in-house production. In April 2025, drama directors and production staff at MBC released a statement opposing the network's programming of Disney+ original series "Big Bet."

At the time, critics argued MBC should not air a Disney+ original series without investing in its own programming during a drama ratings slump. MBC countered that it needed the financial boost amid a slumping advertising market, and the network ultimately aired "Big Bet."

The core issue is not broadcasting streaming content, but how networks utilize the strategy. If networks abandon their own content and rely on external acquisitions, it will inevitably erode their competitive edge.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.