Communiqué’s Post

From Bloomberg: CJ ENM ENTERTAINMENT DIV. Co. plans to spend 1 trillion won ($750 million) annually on content, as South #Korea’s largest #entertainment company tries to better compete with #Hollywood and pull its business out of a funk. CJ executives issued that pledge while describing how Korea’s entertainment industry is in crisis mode — despite the explosive popularity of K-pop and K-drama. Local players like CJ are struggling with rising production costs as well as falling ad revenue from local platforms. At the same time, Netflix Inc. has taken the lead on distributing K-dramas such as Squid Game worldwide. On Friday, CJ — which backed the Oscar-winning 2019 black comedy Parasite — promised to invest more on content than any of its local peers. Spanning movie theaters and production houses to local video #streaming, CJ thinks the business needs big investment to become truly international. In an effort to overcome the industrial downturn, CJ’s affiliates plan to go international. Studio Dragon, the studio behind Netflix’s The Glory and romantic comedy series Love Next Door, is seeking to produce shows for the US and Japanese local markets. Its streaming platform TVING 티빙 also aims to expand into major markets including the US, Southeast #Asia and Japan. And CJ is exploring new markets such as the Middle East and India.

Thanks for sharing Fadi Ismail. 🙏 Fantastic to hear about CJ ENM - the biggest entertainment company in Korea - and their appetite for international expansion - despite the industry headwinds. Studio Dragon to continue production for the biggest K-content markets (US and Japan), and TVING 티빙 exploring potential US, Japan, South East Asia, MENA, and India roll outs. Given ever-lasting popularity of the K-content and and the overall Hallyu wave, with over 225M members globally, its phenomenon continues to excite. 🙌 In the Middle East, the following is still relatively small, with approx. 5M active members (mainly in Jordan, Egypt and the KSA). What seems to resonate the most are the family-centered themes, around LOVE, FAMILY and HOPE; quoting after The New York Times. I can't wait to witness increasing popularity of the Korean content in this region, and the rise of collaborations and co-productions, given a common appetite for the global expansion and dominance. 🌍 It's a definitely exciting space to watch! 👁️🗨️ MBC GROUP MBC studios OSN Rise Studios STARZPLAY CJ ENM ENTERTAINMENT DIV. #kdrama #content #production #korea #middleeast #hallyu #collaboration source: https://lnkd.in/d5rS9f3Z

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐱 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝑩𝒚 𝑵𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒍 𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒉𝒂𝒏 What happens when the world’s most trusted streaming platform faces its greatest technical challenge—and fails? On November 15, 2024, Netflix’s infrastructure, long celebrated as a paragon of innovation and resilience, crumbled under the unprecedented weight of 120 million viewers tuning in for the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight. Buffering screens, pixelated images, and server crashes turned what should have been an entertainment spectacle into a cautionary tale. Can a system designed for flawless on-demand delivery scale seamlessly to handle the demands of real-time global events? What lessons can engineers, platforms, and users take from a failure of this magnitude? 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆: https://lnkd.in/eTjevUb2

With Civilization 6: Platinum Edition hitting Netflix next month, I wrote up a deep-dive on the 2K turn-based strategy hit. Here's everything you need to know, inlcuding how to pre-register: https://lnkd.in/gKau8g-n

THR recently ran a big article on how “megamerger dreams are dying”. I mean, yeah, haven’t I been saying this for years? But for years lots of industry insiders vehemently pushed back. I also heard a pundit say that “everyone has known for 95 years that more popular films make for more popular Oscar telecasts” which is crazy, because when I started writing about that four years ago, nobody was saying that. I probably should have added that myth (my editor/researcher wanted me to) to my “20 Biggest Hollywood Myths” article. https://lnkd.in/gg2TE8e3 There’s this new cycle where “everyone knows something” in the entertainment business, very few people challenge the orthodoxy, those who do are told they don’t know what they’re talking about...then that thing comes true. Like sending films to theaters makes more money. Or that South Korean content (right after Squid Game) was the future. Or that streaming was a more profitable biz model than the old one. Or that binge release was the future. It’s not that I’m always right, but more that so many people (especially powerful columnists who mostly rely on power sources) really try to limit the bounds of the conversation. So as I wrote a couple of weeks back, if you want to understand the future, read the EntStrategyGuy, read the folks pushing back, then wait a couple of years for the trades to catch up.

A thorough recap on OTT situation and direction in SEA.

Nearly 60% of Netflix's subscribers globally have watched Korean content 🇰🇷 ...but the K-drama industry is facing a major corrective period. Bloomberg covers the impact Netflix has had on both content production and consumption in the country, as the company spent over a trillion won ($750M) to acquire Korean films and shows from 2016-2021. 🌎 Korean television has been an export-oriented industry for some time, but demand from Western countries has driven double-digit export growth year after year. 📈 Rising demand caused production costs to increase 3-4x, and more shows were greenlit than ever before (160 in 2022!), straining the profitability of local firms as ad revenue began to decline due to the cord-cutting that Netflix drove. 📺 Netflix now controls over half of the local streaming market, while other players like TVING 티빙 and Wavve (콘텐츠웨이브) are being forced to pursue other strategies to avoid direct competition with the market leader. Other international content buyers, like The Walt Disney Company and WarnerMedia, lag significantly behind Netflix in spending on Korean content - leaving the production companies sitting on lots of expensively-made shows and fewer opportunities to profit from it. #streaming #svod #entertainment #hallyu #kdrama

Is Your Media Business Future-Proofed for India's Evolving Legal Landscape? The Indian media and entertainment industry is booming, but keeping pace with the ever-changing legal landscape can be a challenge. New regulations for streaming, online gaming, and content moderation are just a few of the hot topics. Here's the question: Is your business prepared to navigate these complexities? Let's discuss! 👇 -What legal concerns are you facing in the Indian media space? -Have you encountered challenges with copyright, censorship, or online content regulation? -Are you unsure about the impact of recent legal updates? Share your thoughts in the comments, and let's explore solutions together! #MediaLaw #India #EntertainmentLaw #ContentRegulation #Streaming #Gaming

Piracy has been a challenge for the Nordic media market for many years. Despite efforts to limit piracy, illegal consumption of films, series and live sports is growing in most Nordic markets, according to data from Mediavision. Currently, 25 per cent of all 15-74-year-olds in the Nordics say they have downloaded or illegally streamed content in the last month. This means that there are roughly 5 million pirates in the Nordics, a figure which has grown by around 400,000 on the previous year. https://lnkd.in/gftYXqzN

The South Korean media market encounters challenges akin to those in the US, as local streaming services strive to contend with Netflix's dominance. Merger talks between Wavve and Tving aim to establish a consolidated platform offering an array of content from local studios and broadcasters. Against the backdrop of production costs tripling, local production houses and streamers find themselves grappling with unprecedented margin squeezes. In response, price adjustments, international expansions, cost reductions, and M&A strategies are all under consideration to effectively navigate these formidable headwinds. #StreamingWars #KoreanMedia