'Localtainment' Gambit, LG Hello Unveils Its 'Vision'... Investing 40 Billion Won Annually

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] "Our neighborhood stories, that is, 'local stories,' will be turned into intellectual property (IP)."

LG HelloVision, the number one cable TV operator in South Korea, has made its largest investment since its launch, making a decisive move in the regional content battle. Top-tier domestic stars such as Kang Ho-dong, Lee Soo-geun, and Jang Yoon-jung appear in cable TV regional channel variety shows, focusing on our neighborhood 'local' themes by 'sleeping, reading, playing, and singing.' This is a so-called 'Localtainment (Local + Entertainment)' strategy, featuring large-scale content never before seen on regional channels. LG HelloVision also recruited a star CP from CJ ENM to enhance content quality.

◇Investing 40 billion KRW annually and recruiting star CP

LG HelloVision announced on the 2nd that it will invest approximately 40 billion KRW annually to accelerate innovation in regional channel content. This amount is about double compared to before LG HelloVision's launch. It even exceeds LG HelloVision's annual operating profit (about 34.2 billion KRW last year). This is considered an unusual level in the cable TV industry, where the proportion of original content production is not large.

The core of content innovation lies in the 'local essential channel' strategy led by Localtainment. LG HelloVision aims to differentiate content by turning local stories about our neighborhoods into IP and solidify its position from a regional representative channel to a regional essential channel. Additionally, it plans to use regional channels as a foothold to enhance the competitiveness of the cable TV service 'Hello TV.'

New Localtainment-branded content will be released starting this month. Most of these are large-scale contents based on local themes, such as 'Our Neighborhood Class,' a makeover program that transforms specific areas into social media (SNS) 'hot spots.' Newly joined CJ ENM alumnus Park Hyun-woo, head of the Content Production Center, oversees content production. Park is a star CP who led the makeover program trend with shows like SBS's 'My Child Has Changed' and tvN's 'Let Me In.' It is expected that he will add a definite 'variety show color' to regional channel programs, which have strengths in culture and information delivery.

Kang Myung-shin, head of LG HelloVision's Community Business Group, said, "Cable TV regional channels and local-based content planning and production capabilities are our unique weapons that other media operators do not have," adding, "We will nurture original content into killer content that leads platform competitiveness."

◇Cable TV making a decisive move for 'content innovation'

The reason LG HelloVision is pursuing innovation in regional channel content is closely related to the rapidly changing broadcasting market and the current situation faced by cable TV. Once called the 'golden goose,' cable TV has fallen into a vicious cycle of 'subscriber decline → revenue decline → investment decline → subscriber decline' due to the emergence of new platforms such as IPTV and Over-The-Top (OTT) services. It struggles with poor profitability due to low-priced fees and rising content acquisition costs, making it difficult to find new growth engines.

Amid this, LG HelloVision expects the new content released from this month to be a turning point that presents a new direction for regional original content. The first content to be released is the talk show 'Book Europe with Carrier' (June 7), featuring Song Eun-yi and Kim Sook discussing celebrities' life books. On June 16, the variety program 'Hodong’s Camping Zone: Try Choosing' will launch, showcasing three types of camping with ordinary campers and celebrities. Next month, 'Our Neighborhood Class,' a project by Kim Soo-ro and Lee Soo-geun to create regional hot spots, and 'Dojangkkaegi,' where Jang Yoon-jung and Do Kyung-wan discover hidden trot talents nationwide, will be released.

All of these share the core concept of 'stories about sleeping, reading, playing, and singing in the region.' They plan to story-tell local landmarks and specialties and further transform these areas into 'hip neighborhoods' attracting the MZ generation. The idea is to captivate viewers with region-based content amid the global flood of content.

Park Hyun-woo, head of LG HelloVision's Content Production Center, said, "This will be a signal fire presenting the direction of regional original content," adding, "We will reinterpret the value of local areas and provide unique fun through hip themes that can encompass the MZ generation."

LG HelloVision will collaborate not only with LG affiliates such as LG Uplus and The Life Channel but also with leading domestic production companies with professional production capabilities, including Channel Discovery, Urban Works, and Content Lab Vivo. It will also diversify viewing routes. New content will be available on LG Uplus's 'U+ Mobile TV' and Medialog's 'The Life' channel. Exports through overseas channel operators and OTT providers will also be explored.

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