[Click eStock] "Skylife, Future Growth Engine is Content"

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] Daishin Securities forecasted that Skylife's future growth driver could be its content. The investment opinion and target price were maintained at 'Buy' and 16,000 KRW, respectively.

In December last year, Skylife signed a convertible preferred stock (CPS) acquisition agreement with Studio&New, investing 8.3 billion KRW to acquire a 9.9% stake. Studio&New is a subsidiary of NEW, which produced 'Chief of Staff' and 'Miss Hammurabi.' NEW, an existing film investment and distribution company, established Studio&New after the success of producing 'Descendants of the Sun' in 2016.

Skylife currently operates eight channels including skyDrama and is the second-largest multiple channel programming provider (MPP) in Korea. It is expanding original content starting with its own variety shows. Following a partnership with Discovery Channel, it has also invested in Studio&New's shares, continuously expanding its content domain.

On the 17th, Heejae Kim, a researcher at Daishin Securities, stated in a report, "By utilizing the intellectual property (IP) and production capabilities held by NEW, Studio&New, and Discovery, it is expected that the subsidiary SkyTV's channels will see a stable increase in viewership ratings."

He added, "With the planned launch of a joint venture (JV) with Discovery this year, and the expected restructuring of the pay-TV market along with the entry of global online video service providers (OTT) into the domestic market, owning proprietary content is an essential factor. Strengthening the content media business is an appropriate choice considering market trends." He also projected, "Although the content business currently has a low share and advertising revenue increase from higher ratings does not significantly contribute to profits, considerable future earnings from the content business are possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.