Korea adds 534,000 pay TV subscribers in 2H 2018

Thursday, May 9th, 2019
Ministry of Science and ICT logo

GWACHEON — South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) has announced pay TV subscriber numbers for the country for the second half of 2018. At the end of 2018 there were 32.5 million pay TV subscribers in Korea, with IPTV having the largest share having overtaken cable TV in late 2017. Over 534,000 susbcribers were added in the second half of 2018.

The market leader, KT, increased its market share from 20.67% to 21.12% in the second half. IPTV gained share at the expense of both cable and satellite.

Market share evolution by operator

                   KT  SK Broadband      CJ Hello      LG Uplus    KT Skylife
         ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------  ------------
2H 2018        21.12%        14.32%        12.61%        11.93%         9.95%
1H 2018        20.67%        13.97%        13.02%        11.41%        10.19%
2H 2017        20.21%        13.65%        13.10%        10.89%        10.33%
1H 2017        19.92%        13.38%        12.97%        10.42%        10.53%

Susbcribers by technology (installed devices)

                       1H 2018              2H 2018                Change
           -------------------  -------------------  --------------------
           Subscribers   Share  Subscribers   Share  Subscribers    Share
           -----------  ------  -----------  ------  -----------  -------
Cable       13,984,967  43.76%   13,864,782  42.67%     -120,185  -1.09%p
Satellite    3,254,877  10.19%    3,234,312   9.95%      -20,565  -0.23%p
IPTV        14,716,575  46.05%   15,391,450  47.37%      674,875   1.32%p
           -----------  ------  -----------  ------  -----------  -------
Total       31,956,419    100%   32,490,544    100%      534,125        -

Cable TV versus IPTV

              Dec-2015   June-2016    Dec-2016   June-2017    Nov-2017   June-2018    Dec-2018
            ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------
Cable TV    13,732,084  13,848,657  13,886,670  13,968,178  14,097,123  13,940,289  13,804,449
IPTV        11,358,187  12,196,432  12,889,408  13,632,000  14,220,281  15,015,907  15,656,861
            ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------
Difference   2,373,897   1,652,225     997,262     336,178    -123,158  -1,075,618  -1,852,412