As TVING has been selected as the preferred negotiator for the broadcast rights of the Korean Professional Baseball league (KBO) for three years starting in 2024, concerns are growing about paying for online professional baseball broadcasting. TVING has not revealed its position on this, but there is a possibility that it will only provide general definition broadcasts including free advertisements or resell the broadcasting rights.
On the 8th, the KBO selected TVING as the preferred negotiating partner for wire and wireless broadcast rights, which is equivalent to the online broadcast rights of the KBO League. If selected as a wire/wireless broadcast rights provider, it will have the rights to broadcast KBO League games live online, provide VOD of highlights, and resell business rights. KBO intends to announce the specific size of the contract and the main content after the completion of negotiations.
▲ KBO 2023 match at Jamsil Stadium. Photo = Reporter Geum Jun-kyung
What is the selection process?
This proposal was a series of surprises. In the industry, Coupang was mentioned as a strong candidate, but Coupang was left out of the bidding. After that, Tving was not considered a strong candidate, but the situation turned around when he offered an amount of 40 billion won a year, about twice as much as the current broadcast rights. The Naver Consortium (Naver, SK Telecom, LG U+, Afreeca TV), in which Naver participated, which has secured online broadcasting rights since 2006, is said to have offered about 20 billion won a year, and Acla Entertainment has offered about 30 billion won a year.
What services does Tving provide?
In a press release on the 8th, Tving announced that it would provide channel implementation for all clubs, implementation of a viewing environment that allows quick access with two clicks, and multi-view split viewing support to view videos from camera angles multiple Additionally, it was announced that it would provide a ‘TV Talk’ function that allows users to chat and watch together like portal broadcast content, and a ‘Time Machine’ function that allows users to replay scenes from the past .
Can I no longer watch KBO broadcasts online for free?
On the 8th, a TVING official said, “It is difficult to give an answer” to Media Today’s question about whether a fee should be charged for the service.
In fact, considering the amount of broadcast rights presented by TVING, it is difficult to make a large profit if the service is provided for free. According to an industry insider, the reason why Naver Consortium offered the same price as the previous year was based on the judgment that it would be difficult to make a profit at a higher price than that.
▲ CJ ENM headquarters ⓒYonhap News
However, there is a possibility that it will not be ‘paid in full’. Fans can protest strongly, and the KBO seems to have taken this into account when choosing the operator of the business. There is a possibility that the service will be dualised, with only ad-supported standard definition broadcasts provided free of charge, and high definition, ad-free viewing and additional features provided to paid members. TVING has provided free live broadcasting between 2017 and April 2021, and plans to broadcast major channels in real time for free this year.
It is also worth noting that Teabing will have ‘resale’ rights. Free service is possible if Naver, telecommunications companies, and Afreeca TV participating in the Naver consortium buy back broadcasting rights. An official from a company belonging to the consortium said, “We will investigate the situation and review it later.”
Why is television interested in broadcasting sports?
The OTT industry considers ‘sports broadcasting rights’ as part of ‘original content’ which encourages users to sign up and prevent them from leaving. The number of unique users of Coupang Play, which only broadcast Son Heung-min’s games, increased by almost 20% in June 2022 compared to the previous month. Professional baseball has 3 million fans, and as of 2022, the average number of concurrent users per game broadcast on Naver is 54,000. Because the league period is long, there is a low possibility that users will leave.
▲ Poster for the match between England’s Tottenham Hotspur, the K-League All-Star Team, and Spain’s Sevilla FC, hosted and broadcast exclusively by Coupang Play in July 2022. Photo = Coupang Play
Previously, TVING was the only OTT company to secure exclusive broadcasting rights for the German Bundesliga following the exclusive broadcast of Euro 2020, attracting the attention of football fans. Coupang Play broadcast football matches like ‘Team K League vs. Tottenham Hotspur’ and Volleyball World Championship 2022 only. Recently, CJ ENM’s integrated broadcast rights for matches hosted by the Asian Football Confederation were transferred to Coupang Play.
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There is also an analysis that, although TVING is in the red, it bought broadcast rights considering a merger with Wave. Tving is currently pursuing a merger with Wave, which is interpreted as a strategy to gain an advantage by increasing the number of users, as the number of monthly active users (MAU) can be reflected in the calculation of the merger ratio.
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