Korean Streamer Tving Has What it Takes to Challenge Netflix, Says CEO Yang Ji-eul (EXCLUSIVE)

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAsian sports streaming platform SPOTV has launched in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and The Philippines. The move was announced on the first day of the virtual FilMart rights market.The service is available as a subscription-based app that includes linear channels and on demand event coverage. The sports it covers include MotoGP World Championships and World Superbike Championships; World Badminton Federation Tour; the Korean Baseball League; V.League Japan and Formula E motor racing.

Squid Game has taken home two wins at the Critics Choice Awards.On Sunday (March 13), Squid Game cast members Lee Jung-jae, Jung Ho-yeon and Park Hae-soo attended the 27th Critics Choice Awards held in Los Angeles, where they took home two awards for the series.Lee, who played the series’ main character Seong Gi-hun, won Best Actor In A Drama Series for his performance, beating out Succession’s Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong, among others. “I’m grateful to an extent I can’t express,” said Lee during his acceptance speech, per Soompi.

Yaksha: Ruthless Operations.The video opens with a shot of the Chinese city of Shenyang, illuminated by lights as a voiceover introduces us to the film’s setting. “I heard this city has the highest density of spies,” the voice points out.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese streaming video platform iQiyi has announced plans to raise $285 million from a private placing of shares, part of which will be taken up by parent company Baidu.The move comes in the same week that the NASDAQ-listed company said it was suspending its weekend live broadcasts of English Premier League football (soccer) due to the sport’s public displays of solidarity with Ukraine.iQiyi is understood to have informed the Premier League that it would be removing the coverage following the league’s announcement that a “moment of reflection and solidarity” would be held before matches at the weekend. Several teams also displayed armbands in the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag.

Milo Ventimiglia is taking on a new role!

Naman Ramachandran Netflix has greenlit a trio of series across Japan, Australia and Taiwan, featuring top talent.Japanese sitcom “Let’s Get Divorced” follows a rookie politician and his actor wife who struggle with their marriage life and they decide to split up. However, their parents and agents don’t allow them to do it.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Disney has done the frozen Nordic princess, the Chinese warrior princess and many others in between.

What a special day!! We were able to convince Momma Perez to do something with us and the kids!! We went to Koreatown and had Korean corn dogs, which we had never tried before. We tell you where to go and what to order! We tried four different dogs! There’s a clear best one! And then we surprised the kids with a very Korean treat after! Plus an extra rare treat for dad later at home! Watch!

Bullet Train, an action thriller starring Brad Pitt as a deadly assassin, has been released.Directed by David Leitch (Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde), Bullet Train stars Pitt as Lady Bug, an experienced assassin who boards a Japanese bullet train filled with other professional killers who have been sent to fulfil their own assignments.Based on the novel Maria Beetle by Kōtarō Isaka, the film also stars Joey King, Andrew Koji, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Zazie Beetz, Masi Oka, Michael Shannon, Logan Lerman, Hiroyuki Sanada, Karen Fukuhara, Benito A Martinez Ocasio aka Bad Bunny, and Sandra Bullock.In the trailer shared by Sony Pictures, Pitt is shown encountering another assassin played by Bad Bunny, soundtracked by Bee Gees track ‘Stayin’ Alive’.Lady Gaga was originally cast for Bullock’s role but she was forced to exit the project over scheduling conflicts with Ridley Scott film House Of Gucci.Along with Bullet Train, Pitt is set to make an appearance in upcoming film The Lost City alongside Bullock and Channing Tatum. He’s also been cast in Babylon from director Damien Chazelle (La La Land, Whiplash), set to be released in December.

Miky Lee, the enigmatic vice chair of South Korea entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM, grew up believing in the simple dictum from her grandfather that would prove to be the guiding principle of her life and work: “No culture, no country.”An heiress to the Samsung fortune, Lee has spent decades enhancing her family’s long legacy as business titans and innovators who were instrumental in building Korea’s postwar economic infrastructure. Her grandfather, who also launched a newspaper and radio and TV stations, believed that Korea would never become a strong nation without forums for nurturing and celebrating the nation’s distinctive traits, traditions and history.Lee has taken the family mission global in recent years, working tirelessly as an investor and a dealmaker to advance the interests of both her companies and her cultural homeland.

HYBE and YG Entertainment are set to launch a BLACKPINK-themed Korean language learning packet later this year.Earlier today (March 2), HYBE Edu and YG Entertainment announced that they will be launching a BLACKPINK-themed Korean language learning material titled ‘BLACKPINK In Your Korean’, per Kpop Herald.According to Kpop Herald and KBIZoom, ‘BLACKPINK In Your Korean’ hopes to familiarise fans with the Korean language through words and phrases that the K-pop quartet frequently use.The packet will include textbooks, stickers, quizzes and animated videos that will teach learners correct pronunciation. Notably, the videos will be available in Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian..@HYBE_EDU is launching "@BLACKPINK IN YOUR KOREAN," a Korean language education material using the act's IP.

aespa dominate the ceremony, with the quartet taking home the Rookie Of The Year award, as well as Song Of The Year and Best K-Pop song for ‘Next Level’. IU, meanwhile, bagged Best Pop Album for ‘Lilac’ and was one of the Best Pop Song awardees for ‘Nakka’, her collaboration with AKMU.In addition, BTS took home the Artist of the Year award for the third time in their career.

Inspector Koo had donated and sent a letter in support of Ukraine.“We are very excited and touched by the letter and the great financial contribution of the famous Korean actress Lee Young-Ae in support of Ukraine and the demand to end the war as soon as possible,” wrote Ponomarenko, who attached images of a cheque and letter.

SPOILER ALERT: The following story contains details from the first season of Netflix’s Squid Game.

Variety, Yang discussed his vision for TVING – a streaming service backed by Korean media giant CJ ENM, search engine Naver and cable network JTBC – following a banner year of 60 per cent subscriber growth in 2021. The CEO also touched on the global growth of Korean content and how he plans on challenging Netflix, both at home and abroad.“It’s a game of capital,” Yang said of potential growth in the streaming space.

The first trailer for “Pachinko” has been released, offering a first look at the upcoming Apple TV+ adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s sprawling multigenerational saga chronicling how one family’s journey from Korea to America over the course of decades, told in three different languages: Korean, Japanese and English.

EXCLUSIVE: The wild story of how Korean musician Tablo, otherwise known as Daniel Lee, involving online forums and disinformation, is being told in a new podcast series from Vice and iHeartRadio.