CJ ENM and JTBC sign an MOU to launch OTT joint venture

CJ ENM (CEO Heo Min-heoi) and JTBC (CEO Son Seok-hee) announced on the 17th (Tuesday) that they had signed an MOU to launch a joint venture for video streaming service (OTT).

CJ ENM and JTBC agreed to establish a joint venture (JV) that provides integrated services for content owned by the two companies by early next year, and to launch an integrated OTT platform based on ‘TVING’. In the joint venture (JV), CJ ENM will participate as the 1st shareholder and JTBC as the 2nd largest shareholder and in the future, both companies will distribute content to domestic OTT platforms through the JV.

The two companies agreed to create an ecosystem structure that can grow together with content and platform providers centered on integrated OTT by introducing more diverse products to consumers, such as content-combined products from both companies, and cooperating in various ways, such as additional partnerships.

The cooperation between CJ ENM and JTBC is a strategic choice to respond to the rapidly changing global market environment. While OTT services such as Netflix are gaining popularity around the world, companies with abundant IP (intellectual property) such as Disney and AT&T have already announced the start of their own OTT services, and the importance of differentiated content in the OTT market is growing.

In order to secure competitiveness in the content market, which has already become a battleground for global players, the two companies, which have various IPs in dramas and entertainment, agreed on the need not only to secure content planning and production capabilities, but also to secure an optimal platform for each target where well-made content can be effectively serviced.

An official from CJ ENM said, “In order to secure global competitiveness of content, it is important to create a virtuous cycle structure in which content is consumed on various platforms and the profits are reinvested in content. To this end, through close cooperation with JTBC, we continue to produce the best well-made contents that can be used in domestic and global markets, strengthen the integrated OTT original contents, and expand the supply of various external contents suitable for the target audiences so that consumers can meet them in the most convenient way.”

An official from JTBC said, ""The broadcasting-video business is changing so fast that it is difficult to estimate the speed. Ultimately, it is essential to build a system that can not only continuously produce differentiated content, but also properly distribute it. Through OTT business cooperation with CJ ENM, we hope that the two companies will continue to work together to expand the range of content choices for viewers and raise the competitiveness of domestic media to the global level.”

CJ ENM (CEO Heo Min-heoi) and JTBC (CEO Son Seok-hee) announced on the 17th (Tuesday) that they had signed an MOU to launch a joint venture for video streaming service (OTT).