"OTT Becomes a Key Advertising Medium... 60% of Users Subscribe to Ad-Supported Plans"

KT Nasmedia "2026 Internet User Survey"
More users consuming OTT and YouTube via TV
Content benefits drive retention of online shopping memberships

It has been found that 6 out of 10 online video service (OTT) users are currently subscribed to ad-supported plans.

On March 26, KT Nasmedia announced in its "2026 Internet User Survey Report" (NPR), which analyzes the media usage and ad acceptance behavior of domestic internet users, that ad-supported OTT plans have become the mainstream subscription model.

According to the report, 59.7% of OTT users responded that they are subscribed to ad-supported plans. The survey was conducted from February 4 to March 13, targeting 2,000 internet users aged 15 to 60 residing nationwide.

Byungjo Kim, Head of Media Division (Executive Vice President) at Nasmedia, stated, "This survey confirmed the trend of media usage and ad acceptance shifting toward video content," adding, "In particular, OTT's influence as an advertising medium is growing." OTT advertisements received positive evaluations in terms of premium quality, trustworthiness, and the level of audience attention compared to other media.

The variety of TV viewers' content has also increased via OTT and similar platforms. The survey found that 33.7% of respondents mainly watch YouTube on TV, and 30.2% mainly watch OTT services, both figures comparable to the rate of traditional TV channel viewership (35.0%).

OTT has also been identified as a reason for maintaining online shopping memberships. In the survey on reasons for keeping paid shopping memberships, content benefits such as OTT, music, and e-books ranked fourth at 28.5%. In the case of Naver Plus Membership, which has formed an alliance with Netflix, the same item ranked second at 40.7%.

Kim further explained, "The evolution of shopping memberships is shifting from discount and cashback-centered benefits to integrated content offerings," and added, "As platforms such as OTT and short-form content expand their touchpoints with users, the importance of platforms in the advertising market will continue to grow."

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