KT to merge TV operating subsidies to groom ENA as top pay TV brand

South Korea’s telecom giant KT Group will merge its satellite TV operating and content subsidiaries to groom ENA Channel, the channel behind the country’s massive hit TV drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” as the country’s leading pay TV channel as part of its efforts to enhance its media and content business.

KT Skylife, the parent company of skyTV, and KT Studio Genie, the parent company of Media Genie, will hold a separate board meeting on Aug. 31 on Sept. 1, respectively, to vote on a merger between skyTV and Media Genie, according to various news reports by Maeil Business Newspaper. Under the merger plan, Media Genie will be placed under skyTV.

With the merger, KT aims to groom ENA channels under skyTV as the country’s leading pay TV brand rich with original shows and programs so that it can go neck-and-neck with CJ ENM’s tvN, which produces a wide range of popular TV shows in Korea.

The latest bold plan comes after ENA's first original content “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” became a smash hit. The show instantly became the most talked about K-drama and has topped the Netflix chart for non-English series for the third consecutive week.

ENA’s first and second largest shareholders KT Skylife and KT Studio Genie are expected to make aggressive investments to produce original contents with the relaunch of its content business, said an industry insider.

Shares of KT traded down 0.13 percent at 37,650 won ($28.73) as of 11:14 a.m. on Wednesday.

[ㄏ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]