Paid Broadcasting Telecom Big 3 Restructuring... IPTV Dominates, Widening Gap with Cable

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] The three major telecom-affiliated companies centered on IPTV are solidifying their dominance in the paid broadcasting market. In the second half of last year, the combined market share of the three IPTV companies exceeded 50%, and the subscriber gap with cable TV expanded to 3.65 million.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced the results of the paid broadcasting subscriber count and market share calculation for the second half of 2019 on the 12th. The average number of subscribers over six months in the second half of last year was 33,601,484, an increase of 570,000 compared to the first half of the same year.

By medium, IPTV had 16,832,979 subscribers, SO (System Operator) had 13,557,530, and satellite broadcasting had 3,210,975 in that order. The market share of IPTV rose by 1.52 percentage points from the first half of the year to 50.10%. SO and satellite broadcasting fell by 1.20 percentage points and 0.32 percentage points to 40.35% and 9.56%, respectively.

The number of IPTV subscribers has surpassed SO subscribers on a monthly basis since November 2017. The subscriber gap between IPTV and SO is estimated to have expanded to about 3.65 million as of the end of December last year.

Semiannual IPTV and SO Subscriber Trends (As of the End of Each Half-Year)

The three major telecom companies' structure in the paid broadcasting market is clear. The combined number of subscribers for KT and KT Skylife was 10.59 million, recording a market share of 31.52%. This is 0.21 percentage points higher than in the first half of the same year. The combined number of subscribers for LG Uplus and LG HelloVision was 8.37 million, accounting for a 24.91% market share. The combined market share of SK Broadband, a subsidiary of SK Telecom, and Tbroad, which merged with SK Broadband last month, is 24.17%.

The number of subscribers in the second half by operator was recorded as follows: KT 7,377,514 (market share 21.96%), SK Broadband 5,090,864 (15.15%), LG Uplus 4,364,601 (12.99%), LG HelloVision 4,004,190 (11.92%), KT Skylife 3,210,975 (9.56%), and Tbroad 3,031,806 (9.02%).

The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, “The number of subscribers and market share of the three IPTV companies have steadily increased,” and explained, "When comparing market shares before and after the sunset of combined regulation, the increase for each operator is similar to previous levels." Dealive and Hyundai HCN, which are on the M&A market, recorded market shares of 5.98% and 4.58%, respectively.

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