About the rise of OTT services and declines of traditional TV programs

 

What are OTT services?

 OTT services are TV services available to watch over the web. According to Wikipedia: "OTT is short for 'over the top'. "Over the x" means "beyond the existing scope", so "over the top" means beyond the existing scope, through a device such as a TV set-top box. The idea is that you now have easy access to programmes on the internet that have previously only been available on TV.

 

What are the advantages of OTT?

 Because of the convenience of being able to watch from anywhere without being limited by time and space, we can see that OTT services are growing in popularity and scope. OTT services also create a space that is accessible to all generations and countries. This is why they are so successful and popular on OTT. Now, TV programmes are also gradually entering the OTT market and are using OTT services for promotion and advertising. In fact, there are many examples of TV programmes such as Amazon Prime Video, Disney+. Apple TV+, Tving, Wavve and many other OTT services that were not well known when they were only broadcast as TV programmes, but have now become extremely popular thanks to the effect of OTT services. The expansion of the OTT service market has made it possible to access different contents and systems, and TV programme providers have also developed new strategies to exploit the OTT market.

 

How did OTT services emerge?

 With the development of technology and the expansion of internet penetration, OTT services began to emerge. The development of high-speed internet technology and the proliferation of smart devices made online video services possible. They laid the foundation for users to watch content anytime, anywhere. Prior to OTT services, the majority of viewers were limited to traditional broadcasting models such as cable TV or satellite TV, which require a high initial investment and have a limited number of channels. By overcoming these limitations and offering a wide variety of content, OTT services have emerged as an alternative. In addition, the changing contents consumption behaviour of users has been an important factor in the proliferation of OTT services. Young people are increasingly watching online videos on mobile devices rather than watching TV. With the launch of its online video service in 2007, Netflix became the first major player in the OTT market. This was followed by Amazon Prime Video, Disney+. Apple TV+, Tving, Wavve and many other OTT services emerging.

 

Rise of OTT services and decline of TV programmes

 The rapid growth of over-the-top (OTT) services has led to a decline in traditional TV viewing, according to the Korea Creative Content Agency's 2022 Broadcasting Industry Survey Report, "Statistical Data Showing the Trend of Increasing OTT Service Users and Declining TV Viewing". There has been a clear shift towards OTT services, especially among young people, as OTT platforms have become more widespread. This has led to a decline in TV viewing. Traditional broadcasters have also entered the OTT platform business and are exploring new contents strategies. However, the overall contraction of the TV industry has become inevitable. The growth of the OTT market and the decline of traditional TV programming are expected to continue, and the TV industry as a whole will continue to change. In fact, other articles such as OhmyNews have reported that the main characters of weekend and morning dramas on Korea's three broadcasters are performing poorly and have expressed their pain at not being as popular as they used to be.

 

 In other words, the proliferation of OTT platforms is causing traditional TV programming to decline and viewership to fall. Of course, OTT services have the advantage of giving many people access to a wide variety of programming, but we need to think about how to solve and deal with situations such as the decline of traditional TV programming that are already in place.

 

 

By Staff Reporter Choi Yunseo (2-4)