KT internet TV shines after embracing OTT content

KT Corp., South Korea’s top telecom operator, has bucked the trend in the internet TV market, where over-the-top players such as Netflix Inc. are emerging as a dominant threat.

KT's internet protocol TV (IPTV), or Genie TV, posted sharp growth in both subscriber numbers and viewing time for its original content.

The number of Genie TV subscribers reached an all-time high of 9.5 million households as of last month, with the viewing time of its original titles growing by an average of 30% per month over the past year, KT said on Thursday.

Its monthly active user numbers as of September was about twice that of October last year.

KT released the results of Genie TV, formerly Olleh TV, on the occasion of its first anniversary.



Industry watchers said KT wrote a rare success story in the IPTV market after it advanced into the sector in 2011.

KT attributed the increase in user numbers to the introduction of its convenient set-top box services, which allow subscribers to enjoy various entertainment content even from its rivals on a single media portal.

As an example, the “hot key” button on the remote control provides direct access to OTT platforms, including CJ ENM Co.'s TVing. In the past, users had to move the remote-control arrow keys about 10 times to view OTT content.

The hot key function is designed to search for OTT, YouTube and video-on-demand content through a voice-activated search button. It was used more than 4 million times per month.

If a user says “Genie, find ‘Moving,’” it comes up with the popular drama series recently released by Disney Plus.

Viewings of OTT services via Genie TV have also tripled in one year on a monthly basis.

KT has unveiled another convenience function by creating the menu of the OTT Service section, where users can see the contents provided by each OTT player at a glance.

That reflects the increasing trend of households subscribing to multiple OTT platforms.

“We concluded that we could not survive in the OTT era by simply providing TV channels through a set-top box,” said a KT official.

“We aim to become a platform of platforms that allows users to search and view various content through Genie TV.”

The telecom giant aims to become Korea’s top media and content group with projected annual content sales of $4.1 billion by 2025.

Write to Ji-Eun Jeong at jeong@hankyung.com
 


Yeonhee Kim edited this article.