Partnering for FAST Growth — Samsung TV Plus X CJ ENM

Eunhye Park, Head of Content Distribution Strategy at CJ ENM,¹ had a choice to make. Park was tasked with finding new business opportunities to leverage the company’s broad portfolio of content. CJ ENM, well known for producing and distributing popular content across various genres, was already viewed as a leader in the K-culture industry. With their running businesses stable and Korean pop music, TV shows, and films increasingly gaining popularity around the globe, CJ ENM’s business leaders sought to further expand their global market.

While CJ ENM’s content distribution businesses — including several cable channels and “TVING,” a proprietary streaming service — were already well-established, the media landscape continues to evolve and one miss could lead to a spiraling downfall. The company is known for keeping its antennae out for new opportunities and Park’s job was to find the next big thing. As searches for new business opportunities always accompany uncertainty, Park’s priorities were twofold — first, to explore fields where CJ ENM’s strengths seem likely to mitigate threats, and second, to find partners that can share the risk and work to expand the field. Enter free ad-supported TV streaming TV (often shortened as “FAST”) and Samsung TV Plus — a global FAST service operated by the leader in the global TV market.

Samsung TV Plus: Samsung Enters the Content Market

Samsung has continuously strived to enhance users’ lives through ceaseless innovation. While much of the efforts are often highlighted on the product side, the company saw the potential of leveraging TVs already installed in homes to provide further services. “With the vast number of existing Samsung TV users globally, we wanted to take advantage of this opportunity with TV Plus,” said Junga Park.

When Samsung TV Plus was first introduced in 2015, Samsung had maintained its leadership in global TV sales for nine consecutive years — now 17 consecutive years — demonstrating its dominant market position ideal for entering the content service sector. By securing a place within both the TV device and content sides, Samsung sought to provide a new viewing experience for existing users as well as earn ad revenue through its owned platform. With the right partnerships, this would grow into an ecosystem where all parties involved — platform, content and ad partners, and, of course, the viewers — are happy. Recognizing this space, Samsung put forth TV Plus.

For many decades, Samsung has developed several strategic partnerships across different industries­ ­— helping build out its robust portfolio of products and services. Managing content and advertisements became more efficient through Samsung TV Plus, with the availability of valuable data beyond viewer ratings such as when and where consumers watch content, how long they watch for and more. Equipped with these useful insights, Samsung began developing a platform that benefits consumers, content providers and advertisers alike.

Upon its release, the platform initially garnered considerable attention from international users as cord-cutting became more commonplace and streaming platforms surged in popularity. The prevalence of smart TVs helped boost the growth of Samsung TV Plus, with smart TVs accounting for 92% of total TV shipments in the first quarter of 2023 according to market research firm Omdia.

Over the course of eight years, Samsung TV Plus has grown into a massive platform with an extensive content library ­— offering more than 2,000 channels in 24 countries and recording three billion hours of accumulated viewing time worldwide in 2022. After establishing its presence within the market, Samsung expanded Samsung TV Plus to mobile devices starting in April 2021 and to smart monitors and the Family Hub refrigerator in 2022, allowing users to enjoy more connected experiences.

While all this was happening, one key factor in keeping the platform attractive was to diversify content offerings in each of the operating markets. In Korea, partnered with CJ ENM to strengthen its competitive edge.

FAST Market Growth Through Mutual Cooperation

While seeking new ways to expand its global market presence, CJ ENM had been monitoring the growth of FAST, acknowledging it as a potential tool for reaching new audiences. “When I was working in Japan, a senior colleague turned on the TV and introduced me to a platform,” recalled Eunhye Park, Head of Content Distribution Strategy at CJ ENM. “Content was playing but this was not an ordinary broadcast television station nor an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service. Only the power and internet were connected — no additional cables. This was a free ad-supported streaming platform — FAST.”

Unlike many OTT streaming platforms, FAST offers free access to ad-supported content on digital channels via smart TVs connected to the Internet. It is a popular option for consumers in North America and Europe who want a more affordable TV plan. In recent years, the global FAST industry thrived as total revenue jumped 20-fold between 2019 and 2022, according to the research from Omdia. The popularity is expected to continue, with revenue predicted to triple to 12 billion USD between 2022 and 2027.

After viewing growth trends and market indicators, Eunhye recognized the enormous growth potential in the FAST market. “After seeing the growth of FAST in North America, we knew it had the potential to be even more successful in Korea,” said Eunhye.

Despite its global growth, the FAST market in Korea was still in its infancy — especially as traditional cable TV and OTT streaming services dominated the content industry while other digital platforms were becoming prominent in the advertising space. CJ ENM could have entered the FAST market early to become a leader, but it required a considerable investment of resources and strategic partnerships.

The company also needed data related to the digital industry which was difficult to obtain. While Eunhye’s Content Distribution Strategy team consisted of a group of experts, each bringing considerable experience to the table, the media landscape was becoming more and more complex. With cable TV, OTT streaming services, digital platforms and more, collecting cross-platform data and analyzing user preferences proved to be a challenge.

“A program can be popular on one platform yet fail on another. Short-form and long-form content also perform differently depending on the platform. Clearly identifying users’ preferences is a must when organizing a channel — and a massive amount of data is required,” explained Eunhye.

CJ ENM needed a partner that could shoulder some of the investments and also one to stably provide reliable viewing data. CJ ENM found both in Samsung TV Plus.[***]