Over one-third of S. Koreans paid subscribers to OTT platforms last year

Over 34 percent of South Koreans were paid subscribers to over-the-top (OTT) media, or video streaming services, a survey showed Thursday.

Paid subscribers to OTTs stood at 34.8 percent last year, up 20.4 percentage points from the previous year, according to a survey of 6,834 people over the age of 13 by the country's media regulator, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC).

South Korea's OTT usage rate rose to 69.5 percent, compared with 66.3 percent from the previous year, amid the stay-at-home trend driven by the pandemic.

YouTube was the most popular OTT service in South Korea, with its usage rate at 65.5 percent, followed by Netflix at 24 percent.

Usage rates for homegrown players Wavve and Tving stood at 4.4 percent each.

The time subscribers spent on OTT services increased to 80 minutes per day last year, compared with 76 minutes the previous year and 60 minutes in 2019. (Yonhap)