Growth rate of pay TV subscriber slow

The growth rate of pay TV subscribers in South Korea has slowed this year, according to a report released Wednesday by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The number of new pay TV subscribers during the first half this year reached around 350,000, down by 220,000 compared to that of last year, marking the lowest increase in three years, the report said.

In the first half of 2017, the number of new pay TV subscribers reached 830,000. The figure increased to 910,000 in the second half in 2017.

In the following years, the number remained at around 500,000 before it hit the 300,000-level this year.

The nation’s total number of pay TV subscribers stands at 34 million, the report added.

In terms of market share, KT and its affiliate had the largest market share. The combined share of the mobile carrier and its satellite TV unit KT Skylife reached 31.4 percent, with 10.7 million subscribers in the first half this year.

The market share of LG U+ and its pay TV unit LG HelloVision was 25.1 percent, followed by that of SK Telecom and its subsidiary SK Broadband, with 24.5 percent.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)