LEE Hee-ju, Head of Policy Planning at WAVVE

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LEE Hee-ju, Head of Policy Planning at WAVVE

May 29, 2020

Writerby KIM Su-bin
View1819

“If there is anything that can be co-worked, we will not think twice.”

‘Wavve’ is an Internet-based OTT service jointly operated by the three major Korean terrestrial broadcasting companies (KBS, MBC and SBS) and telecommunications operator SK Telecom. It was launched on September 18 last year. This TV content service benefits from a better image than its competitors due to the direct involvement of the three broadcasters, but recently, it has been trying new things, for instance by collaborating with the Directors Guild of Korea (DGK) to produce original content or operating the online screenings for the Jeonju International Film Festival (JIFF). In the highly competitive streaming service market, wavve aims to secure 5 million paid subscribers by 2023. In addition, it announced that it will invest KRW 60 billion (USD 48.4 million) in original content production this year alone. We met with LEE Hee-ju, Head of Policy Planning, to know more about the challenges wavve set for itself.

It has been seven months since the launch of your service. How would you evaluate the business?

At the time of launch on September 18, there were 680,000 subscribers, and now it is close to 2 million. We have set ambitious targets and are now achieving them.

You are also running the online screening service for the Jeonju International Film Festival.

There was no OTT service more suitable than wavve in Korea to allow for JIFF to move its international festival online. When it comes to the latest movies, it is also equipped with a system that allows single payment. In addition, we also have the knowhow to operate such a service. There are about 10 million wavve subscribers, including free subscribers, so this vast pool of subscribers allows these films to a large audience. With wavve, the monthly fee gives access to a lot of recent movies. We joined hands with the Jeonju International Film Festival also because we wanted to communicate that our film library is strong too. We are always leaving the door open for collaborations with other film festivals set to take place before the end of the COVID19 pandemic. We also want to contribute to film festivals. The online screening platform is designed to maintain the same conditions as an offline screening.

You created the original content SF8 with the DGK and MBC. What immediately catches the eye is the concept of a ‘Sci-Fi Anthology Series’, as well as the collaboration with film directors rather than TV series directors.

MBC came to us with the suggestion of creating content with the DGK. As far as we were concerned, we deemed it a fresh idea and readily agreed to give it a try. The production cost was lower than expected. We are really looking forward to it, since prominent directors and actors are included in this project. ‘Wavve Original’ is a structure that creates conversation with the programming of the broadcasters and provides VOD titles on the wavve platform. Netflix has 180 million subscribers, so it is a structure where whatever content they produce, they will not suffer losses. Wavve is not there, so it is necessary for us to drive the conversation. We are working together with the broadcasters to program real-time broadcasting. The three terrestrial broadcasters are the major shareholders of wavve, but we are not limited to them. We will also collaborate with generalist cable TV channels in the second half of the year.

Wavve signed a partnership with NBCUniversal in April. What vision do you have?

We are making available on wavve the latest series from NBC universal, while we provide our originals to platforms like NBCUniversal’s Peacock. There is a lot of interest abroad in Korean content. NBC Universal’s interest in Korean wavve content led to an agreement to exchange content with each other.

Will there be any chance to produce content together in the future?

If the opportunity presents itself, that is quite possible. In addition to NBCUniversal, we are also in contact with other major overseas studios. The media paradigm isn’t changing radically in Korea alone, but also in the US. Some of these service providers are bound to become our rivals, and we may join hands with some others. If there is any part that we can co-work it out together, we will not hesitate.

In October, you launched wavve Go, a service that Korean subscribers can use overseas, mainly in Southeast Asia. Could you please tell us what the response was like?

This service is being provided in 8 countries. The number of subscribers continues to increase, mainly from overseas travelers, but as COVID19 pandemic swept the globe, [the number of users] have almost converged to zero. But the epidemic will end sooner or later. We want to continuously expand the number of countries where the service is available.

What are you looking for to attract foreign users?

First, we should focus on the Korean Wave content. We are thinking of a multi-phase strategy. Wavve Go is the first stage, the second stage we are preparing is aimed at overseas Koreans, and the third one concerns directly the non-Korean audience. The reason for distinguishing the overseas locals from the overseas Koreans lies in the different use of subtitles. Subtitles are an important factor (for overseas expansion) because they are a big part of the cost.

The streaming market is fiercely competitive. What are wavve’s unique strengths?

The ratings of the three major terrestrial broadcaster’ have been lower than in the past, but they are still popular. In that respect, the advantage of wavve is that it provides content from the three major terrestrial broadcasters on a monthly basis. As SK Telecom is an equity participant, we benefit from their distribution network and marketing. We have also secured a capital of KRW 200 billion (USD 161 million) in investment. This seems to be the advantage of wavve. I want to show the unique vision of wavve by constantly experimenting new things.

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