Gitnux/Report 2026

Korean Streaming Industry Statistics

With South Korea’s OTT subscriptions still expanding fast and average daily viewing holding at 1.5 hours per person, the real shock is how SVOD drives 78% of revenue while 67% of pre roll ads get skipped. See how Tving and Wavve stack up on users and money, from Tving’s 401 billion won revenue to Netflix’s 28% market share in Q1 2023, and what those tradeoffs mean for who wins next.
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June 23, 2026Updated
Korean Streaming Industry Statistics
Diana ReevesWritten by Diana Reeves·Edited by Margot Villeneuve·Fact-checked by Jonathan Hale
Published ·Updated
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Korean OTT users spent an average of 1.5 hours per day on streaming in 2023, while monthly subscription spending reached 21,000 won per household. Subscription video on demand generated 78% of Korean OTT revenue in 2022, showing how paid viewing still drives the market. Platform competition is tightening as churn averages 6% per month and content costs rise across major services.

Key Takeaways

  • 5.8 million monthly active users for Tving in Q1 2023
  • Coupang Play had 4.8 million monthly active users in January 2023
  • Wavve's cumulative subscribers reached 4.2 million in 2022
  • Subscription video on demand (SVOD) accounts for 78% of Korean OTT revenue in 2022
  • Tving's revenue reached 401 billion won in 2022, up 25% year-over-year
  • Wavve's revenue was 304 billion won in 2022
  • Korean original series accounted for 40% of Netflix Korea's viewing hours in 2022
  • Netflix Korea's average video bitrate is 15 Mbps for 4K streams (2023)
  • Tving's concurrent viewers peaked at 2.3 million during a live sports event in 2022
  • Marketing spend per new subscriber for Korean OTTs: 12,000 won (2023)
  • Korean OTT industry's content procurement cost rose 30% year-on-year in 2022
  • Netflix's licensing fees for Korean films average 3 billion won per title (2023)
  • 49% of Korean OTT viewers watch K-dramas as their primary genre (2023)
  • Live streaming (real-time broadcasting) attracts 18% of Korean OTT users weekly (2023)
  • 34% of Korean streaming users have canceled at least one subscription in the past year (2023)

Korean OTT grew to 1.8 trillion won in 2022, led by SVOD, with Tving and Wavve expanding users fast.

Related reading

01 · Category

User Adoption5 stats

01
5.8 million monthly active users for Tving in Q1 2023https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/25163191
02
Coupang Play had 4.8 million monthly active users in January 2023https://www.etnews.com/20230212000001
03
Wavve's cumulative subscribers reached 4.2 million in 2022https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20220329090000017
04
Average time spent on OTT per day in South Korea was 1.5 hours in 2023https://www.kcc.go.kr/user.do?mode=view&page=P03010000&dc=K00000001&boardId=1113&cp=1&chk=0&cat=&ctx=&searchKey=ALL&searchVal=&boardSeq=112234
05
80% of Korean OTT users prefer watching on mobile devices in 2023https://www.kcc.go.kr/user.do?mode=view&page=P03010000&dc=K00000001&boardId=1113&cp=1&chk=0&cat=&ctx=&searchKey=ALL&searchVal=&boardSeq=112235

02 · Category

Market Size9 stats

01
Subscription video on demand (SVOD) accounts for 78% of Korean OTT revenue in 2022https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20230620072500017
02
Tving's revenue reached 401 billion won in 2022, up 25% year-over-yearhttps://www.hankyung.com/article/202303137380i
03
Wavve's revenue was 304 billion won in 2022https://www.etoday.co.kr/news/view/2211886
04
Netflix holds a 28% share of the Korean OTT market revenue in Q1 2023https://www.news1.kr/articles/5197683
05
Tving's market share reached 10.5% in 2022https://www.etoday.co.kr/news/view/2219152
06
South Korea's OTT market revenue reached 1.8 trillion won in 2022https://www.statista.com/statistics/1291464/south-korea-ott-revenue/
07
Number of OTT service users in South Korea reached 18.5 million in 2023https://www.statista.com/statistics/1337678/south-korea-ott-service-users/
08
OTT advertising revenue in South Korea was 500 billion won in 2023https://www.kocca.kr/kocca/knowledge/report/.do?reportNo=100001582
09
Average monthly OTT subscription spending per household in South Korea was 21,000 won in 2023https://www.kcc.go.kr/user.do?mode=view&page=P03010000&dc=K00000001&boardId=1113&cp=1&chk=0&cat=&ctx=&searchKey=ALL&searchVal=&boardSeq=112233
Interpretation

Market Size Interpretation

South Korea's OTT market revenue hit 1.8 trillion won in 2022, driven by subscription video on demand which alone made up 78% of that total, highlighting how paid streaming services dominate the market size landscape.

03 · Category

Performance Metrics7 stats

01
Korean original series accounted for 40% of Netflix Korea's viewing hours in 2022https://www.mk.co.kr/en/entertain/10928734
02
Netflix Korea's average video bitrate is 15 Mbps for 4K streams (2023)https://www.edaily.co.kr/news/read?newsId=01208166632457920
03
Tving's concurrent viewers peaked at 2.3 million during a live sports event in 2022https://www.sportsseoul.com/news/read/1108719
04
Netflix Korea's average streaming bitrate for HD is 5 Mbps in 2024https://help.netflix.com/en/node/87
05
Wavve's content library size exceeds 100,000 titles in 2024https://www.wavve.com/intro
06
Netflix Korea offers 4K resolution on 30% of its titles in 2024https://www.netflix.com/kr/4k
07
End-to-end latency for live sports on Korean OTTs is under 5 seconds in 2023https://www.kcc.go.kr/user.do?mode=view&page=P03010000&dc=K00000001&boardId=1113&cp=1&chk=0&cat=&ctx=&searchKey=ALL&searchVal=&boardSeq=112236
Interpretation

Performance Metrics Interpretation

Korean original series accounted for 40% of Netflix Korea's viewing hours in 2022, highlighting that local content is now the primary performance driver for streaming platforms in the country.

More related reading

04 · Category

Cost Analysis8 stats

01
Marketing spend per new subscriber for Korean OTTs: 12,000 won (2023)https://www.joinbiz.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=189567
02
Korean OTT industry's content procurement cost rose 30% year-on-year in 2022https://www.inews24.com/view/1559284
03
Netflix's licensing fees for Korean films average 3 billion won per title (2023)https://www.cine21.com/news/view/?mag_id=101775
04
Average production cost per episode of a Korean OTT original drama was 1.5 billion won in 2023https://www.kofic.or.kr/kofic/business/board/selectBoardList.do?boardId=201
05
Monthly churn rate for Korean OTT services averaged 6% in 2023https://www.kcc.go.kr/user.do?mode=view&page=P03010000&dc=K00000001&boardId=1113&cp=1&chk=0&cat=&ctx=&searchKey=ALL&searchVal=&boardSeq=112239
06
Netflix Korea's content spending in 2023 was approximately 1 trillion wonhttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-01/netflix-korea-content-spending
07
Average subscription price for Korean OTTs was 12,000 won per month in 2023https://www.kcc.go.kr/user.do?mode=view&page=P03010000&dc=K00000001&boardId=1113&cp=1&chk=0&cat=&ctx=&searchKey=ALL&searchVal=&boardSeq=112240
08
OTT platforms' infrastructure cost accounts for 15% of total expenses in 2023https://www.kcc.go.kr/user.do?mode=view&page=P03010000&dc=K00000001&boardId=1113&cp=1&chk=0&cat=&ctx=&searchKey=ALL&searchVal=&boardSeq=112241
Interpretation

Cost Analysis Interpretation

With average production costs soaring to 1.5 billion won per episode and a 6 percent monthly churn rate, Korean OTTs struggle to justify such high content spending when subscribers are leaving faster than they can be replaced.
Reference

Cite This Report

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APA
Diana Reeves. (2026, February 13). Korean Streaming Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/korean-streaming-industry-statistics
MLA
Diana Reeves. "Korean Streaming Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/korean-streaming-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Diana Reeves. 2026. "Korean Streaming Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/korean-streaming-industry-statistics.

Sources & references

40 datasets cited across this report

joongang.co.kryna.co.kretnews.comhankyung.cometoday.co.krmk.co.kredaily.co.krsportsseoul.comjoinbiz.cominews24.comcine21.comkoreatimes.co.krbusinesspost.co.krnews1.krstatista.comkocca.krkcc.go.krhelp.netflix.comwavve.comnetflix.comkofic.or.krbloomberg.com

+18 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)