Apple TV Plus Launches in Korea, Increasing Competition in Streaming Market Where Local Content Is King

Elle Korea, the star of the ongoing K-drama series Chimera spoke about her surprise over the sudden and recent popularity of Korean content, saying that she didn’t expect it to happen in “such a short time”.Kim noted that when she had been filming the 2014 Netflix series Marco Polo, her fellow co-stars were “very interested in Korean content”, although she didn’t specify which actors she was speaking about.

was part of a $275 million investment round in Skydance Media, which also included RedBird Capital Partners. The company’s entertainment arm previously released, through Samuel Goldwyn Films, the drama “Endings Beginnings” and are currently developing other English-language remakes of Korean box office hits, including projects such as “Save the Green Planet” with producer Ari Aster, as well as “Extreme Job” and “Bye, Bye, Bye” that are collaborations with Kevin Hart and Universal.

Wrapping a months-long process, Endeavor Group Holding has sealed a deal to sell most of its successful production unit to South Korean media giant CJ ENM.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorSouth Korean entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM is making a nearly $1 billion bet to grow into a bigger player in the global content business by buying an an 80% stake in Endeavor Content, the production entity that Endeavor was forced to divest after losing a showdown with the Writers Guild of America.CJ ENM described the deal as the biggest M&A transaction in its 26-year history.

Endeavor Group Holdings is close to a deal to sell a majority interest in its content unit to South Korea media company CJ ENM, according to people familiar with the pending transaction.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorFast-growing Korean conglomerate CJ ENM, home of BTS and the distributor of “Parasite,” is in talks to acquire the majority of Endeavor Content in a deal valued between $900 million and $1 billion.CJ ENM came in with most attractive bid for 80% of the production-distribution unit out of a wide field of financial and strategic suitors, a source close to the situation said.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix has released new data for its global smash hit “Squid Game” — showing it as No. 1 with a bullet.“Squid Game” pulled in a staggering 1.65 billion hours of viewing in 28 days following its Sept.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Disney Plus streaming services launches on Friday in South Korea and Taiwan, two developed markets in East Asia. The launches will be followed by the release of some new Asian-produced shows that were revealed last month.In Korea, the service joins a crowded and highly competitive market where Apple TV Plus launched only last week.Disney Plus will be sold at KRW9,900 ($8.40) per month or KRW99,000 ($84) a year.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMagnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, has acquired North American rights to “Ip Man: Kung Fu Legend.” The film is a currently in-production sequel to “Ip Man: Kung Fu Master,” which Magnet previously released.“Ip Man: Kung Fu Legend” is written and directed by Li Liming and produced by Beijing-based Kai Pictures.

Netflix’s Squid Game continued its run as the most-viewed streaming title in the U.S. for the week of October 11-21, Nielsen said in revealing its most recent rankings Wednesday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe decision to make a second season of Netflix global hit “Squid Game” is a sound one, according to analysis firm Media Partners Asia which finds that Korean and Thai content have the strongest cross-border travel potential within the Asia-Pacific region.The company’s “Netflix in the Asia Pacific: The Scalability of Local Content” report is based on passive measurement of 30,000 streaming consumers in Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines,

Kang Daniel is set to team up with K-R&B musician Chancellor on a remake of hip-hop trio Epik High’s ‘Fly’Earlier today (November 10), Superman C&M and Cyworld Z shared that the duo will be releasing a remake of Epik High’s iconic 2005 song ‘Fly’ for the South Korean social networking service.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefGlobal streaming giant, Netflix is in the process of unveiling a huge expansion of its slate of Japanese film and TV content. These are aimed at cementing and strengthening its position in the critical Japanese market and also showcasing live action and anime programming that is expected to cross borders.After the recent success of Korean series “Squid Game,” many eyes have turned to Asia for further high concept non-English-language shows.

BTS have threatened to boycott HYBE, the K-pop boyband’s label, over its plans to launch Non-fungible tokens (NFTs).Yesterday (November 4), the South Korean entertainment giant announced plans to partner with fintech company Dunamu to launch a new NFT-focused venture that would use IP-based on its artists, such as BTS and TXT, to create digital assets.

Daniel Doperalski “Squid Game,” the South Korean drama that has become a global phenomenon since its Sept. 17 debut on Netflix, topped three billion total minutes viewed during the week of Oct.

Squid Game remained the dominant force in U.S. streaming from October 4 to 10, according to Nielsen, once again racking up more than 3 billion minutes of viewing.

who recently exited his first-look deal at Universal Television’s unscripted studio, added: “Korea had long been an unnoticed market, but over the last few years formats such as ‘The King of Masked Singer’ have been sold all over the world.  Many K-pop singers are massively popular around the world, and Korean production companies clearly have the ability to produce high-efficiency programming.  I expect this collaboration with Fo to create more hits; and our team here at dI turn is ready.”Park,

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMegaton Entertainment, an indie distribution and film sales firm, has picked up a pair of titles from Hong Kong production entities AMM Entertainment and Phoenix Waters.