The South Korean government unveiled its strategy to boost advertisement-based streaming television services, commonly known as free ad-supported streaming television (FAST).

On Monday, the Ministry of Science and ICT unveiled a plan to support the expansion of Korean content and over-the-top (OTT) businesses by creating the “K-FAST alliance” as part of its key policies to pursue in 2024. “The government plans to promote FAST abroad and organize efforts to attract investment to enhance Korean OTTs’ global competitiveness,” a ministry official said.

FAST is a streaming service that allows users to enjoy content for free in exchange for watching advertisements, without the need for payments such as monthly subscription fees. Although FAST has not garnered significant attention in Korea to date, it is rapidly growing in the North American market and one out of every three U.S. television viewers watches FAST channels according to market research by Insider Intelligence. Global market data tracker Statista forecasts that the global FAST market will grow to about $12 billion in 2027 from about $9 billion in 2024.

FAST services do not offer “original” content exclusively available on their service that OTT streaming services offer. While FAST services limited options for viewers, who were forced to follow the services’ viewing schedules, recent changes include free video-on-demand (VOD) services.

Streaming services are gradually becoming mainstream in Korea, but there is growing resistance to these services among viewers due to a continuous upward trend in subscription costs.

Disney Plus Korea saw a rise in the number of monthly active users (MAUs) in August and September 2023 after broadcasting its original series “Moving,” but the monthly MAUs began to decline from October when the platform started crackdowns on account sharing. Disney Plus Korea had. 4.2 million MAUs as of October 2023, and the figures fell further to 3.02 million as of January 2204 after a hike in subscription fees.

Against this backdrop, FAST services are on the rise as an alternative and according to market research firm Digital TV Research, the FAST market in Korea is projected to hit 1.16 trillion won ($868.6 million) by 2028.

Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., who have both seen a decline in their TV sales recently, are also looking to tap platforms and the content sector.

Samsung Electronics has its own Samsung TV Plus content platform, currently available on more than 500 million Samsung Electronics TVs, smartphones, refrigerators, and other home appliances in 24 countries as well as offering a total of 121 channels in Korea.

LG Electronics has also been providing LG Channels as a default feature on all its smart TVs since 2015. Users can access over 100 channels through LG Channels and the service was available in 28 countries as of the end of 2023.

By Lee Dong-in and Chang Iou-chung

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