“At 17,000 won a month, Netflix is cheaper”… Movie theater usage has halved in South Korea

In South Korea, the rapid growth of OTT (online video services) has reportedly cut movie theater usage in half. On the 20th, the Korean Film Promotion Commission announced the “2023 Korean Film Industry Financial Report”
did. According to the report, movie theaters in South Korea have not been able to recover to their pre-coronavirus status, but have actually regressed and sales have fallen significantly.
The total sales of movie theaters in 2023 will be 1,261.4 billion won (approximately 141.8 billion yen), compared to 2019 (1,914 billion won).
(approximately 215.3 billion yen). From 2022 to 2023, the company performed well with annual sales exceeding 1 trillion won for two consecutive years, but it has not been able to recover to pre-coronavirus levels.
Slow sales are not the only sign of crisis for movie theaters. The frequency of going to movie theaters has also been cut in half. As of 2023, the number of movie theater visits per person was 2.44. 2019 (4.4 times
) decreased by 45%. Meanwhile, South Korea's OTT industry is booming, with the number of users steadily increasing. On the 14th, the app/retail analysis service “WiseApp-Ret”
ail-Goods announced that the net number of OTT app users in January 2024 was 20.06 million, an increase of 6.9% from January 2023 (18.76 million).
In particular, Netflix, a leading OTT service, has been showing rapid growth both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Number of monthly users of Netflix (
Android standards) increased explosively between January 2019 and January 2024. According to big data analysis platform Mobile Index, the number of internet users in January 2019
The number of monthly users of Toflix was about 1.35 million, but it grew to 8.14 million in January 2024. It has increased more than six times in five years.
The industry explains that the reason behind OTT's dominance is price competitiveness and convenience. 15,000
Compared to movie theater ticket prices, which are around KRW (approximately 1,687 yen), OTT prices are significantly more competitive. OTT is "1 movie per month" (highest price plan standard 10,000 yen)
You can enjoy a variety of works for 7,000 won (approximately 1,912 yen). Considering the original productions of each OTT company that is on the offensive, it is difficult for movie theaters to be competitive based on price alone. Ma
Additionally, the convenience of being able to enjoy movies on your personal device at any time, regardless of screening time or location, is also praised as a strength of OTT.