Organizational Restructuring, Talent Acquisition, and Investment... LG Uplus Accelerates Strengthening of Content Capabilities

(From left) Lee Deok-jae, LG Uplus CCO; Shin Jeong-su, Head of Content Production Center; Lee Sang-jin, Content IP Business Manager, introducing the new organization STUDIO X+U. Photo by LG Uplus

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] LG Uplus announced on the 9th that it has reorganized its organization centered on content production to strengthen its media service competitiveness, and will continue to expand the recruitment of specialized talent and investment in partner companies.

This is part of the U+3.0 strategy to accelerate the transition into a platform company by strengthening media competitiveness through differentiated original content.

First, LG Uplus recently reorganized its CCO (Chief Content Officer) organization to fully launch original content production starting next year. Within the CCO organization, it established ‘STUDIO X+U,’ a specialized content production organization, and newly created the ‘Content Production Center’ under it to support the free creative activities of its members.

STUDIO X+U was reorganized into two organizations: the ‘Content IP Business Division,’ responsible for discovering, developing, and investing in content intellectual property (IP), and the ‘Content Production Center,’ responsible for content production. Lee Sang-jin, Executive Director who previously worked at CJ ENM and HYBE, leads the Content IP Business Division, while Shin Jeong-su, a PD who joined LG Uplus at the end of October, heads the Content Production Center, overseeing overall content production and planning.

The Content Production Center, the core of original content production, operates four teams: Variety Production Team 1, Variety Production Team 2, Variety Special Team, and Music Content Production Team. Variety Production Teams 1 and 2 are led by PD Lee Geun-chan, who joined LG Uplus this year and directed programs such as tvN’s Brain-Training Era - Problematic Men and Mars Virus, and PD Lim Hyung-taek, who directed SBS’s Running Man and Family Outing, respectively. They will be responsible for producing new-concept variety content.

The Variety Special Team, responsible for producing reality and factual entertainment content, is led by PD Yang Ja-young, who joined LG Uplus earlier this month. PD Yang, a content expert, joined KBS in 2004 and directed popular programs such as Happy Sunday (Qualifications of Men) and National Talk Show Hello.

Additionally, the Music Content Production Team is led by PD Park Sang-jun, who has directed music content such as Mnet’s Voice Korea 2020 and the Chinese version of I Can See Your Voice. This team is responsible for planning and producing music-based content and idol-related content.

Since LG Uplus has organized its structure centered on content production, it plans to continuously recruit specialized talent. The content produced by these experts will be showcased through ‘play platforms’ such as the mobile service U+mobiletv and the IPTV service U+tv.

Along with content production, LG Uplus is actively investing to secure competitive content IP. On the 8th, LG Uplus participated in the ‘Pencher K-Content Investment Association,’ a fund responsible for investing in video content projects, and made an equity investment in ‘Bigk,’ a startup that provides a platform connecting content creators and fans.

The ‘Pencher K-Content Investment Association,’ which includes LG Electronics, Kakao Entertainment, Barunson E&A, Barunson, and Shinhan Financial Group, is expected to play a role in leading a virtuous cycle in the domestic content market by discovering competitive domestic and international content and jointly owning IP with creators. ‘Bigk,’ invested in by LG Uplus, operates Bigk Studio, a platform for creators, and a live community for fans and readers, contributing to the formation of a virtuous cycle in the market through monetization based on content IP.

Going forward, LG Uplus plans to expand collaboration with various partners to secure IP, which is the foundation of content competitiveness. Previously, LG Uplus secured content IP by investing in shares of competitive content producers such as SAMG, the production company of the animation Catch Tinyping, Dream Factory, which produced the animation Jelligo, and Meta Theater, which owns numerous musical-related IPs.

Lee Deok-jae, LG Uplus CCO, said, “We will offer customers differentiated enjoyment and experiences through new content creation,” and added, “We will grow the ‘play platform,’ one of the four major platforms presented as LG Uplus’s future business centered on content, and create the highest level of customer satisfaction.”

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