NEWS & REPORTS
See Your Schedule
Ko - production in Busan
- Korean Film News
- Warner Bros. Expands Korean Distribution through IPTV
- by Pierce Conran / Oct 14, 2014
- Non-Theatrical Titles to Be Made Available on VOD
Warner Bros. Korea has announced the launch of a service which will cater exclusively to titles not receiving theatrical releases in the country. First up will be the Adam Sandler comedy Blended on October 16th, which will then be followed by Clint Eastwood’s Jersey Boys and the Melissa McCarthy vehicle Tammy.While theatrical sales still account for the vast majority of film revenue in South Korea, digital distribution has been making significant inroads. The physical media market has been running on fumes since 2009, but since then the online market has grown around 60%, and is now valued at roughly one quarter of total theatrical revenue.Given the lower overhead required to release films digitally, partly resulting from lower marketing costs, Korea’s increased VOD market has come to the attention of foreign film distributors, with some speculating that it was one of the reasons why the Asian Film Market experienced a 23% rise in badge holders this year.Though foreign studios release many titles in Korean cinemas, some films are still not granted theatrical bows. These are generally titles that are considered a riskier bet for Korean audiences, such as comedies, which often face trouble in foreign language markets.IPTV now counts over 10 million subscribers between three major telecom operators in Korea, KT Olleh TV, LG U+TV and SK Btv, and appears set to overtake cable TV services next year. Though the Warner Bros. IPTV service will only feature WB titles to begin with, it could expand to feature content from other major studios before long, such as Sony Pictures.
- Any copying, republication or redistribution of KOFIC's content is prohibited without prior consent of KOFIC.
