KT aims to achieve $3.75 bn in content business revenue by 2025

Kang Kook-hyun, head of customer business at KT Corp., shows the Genie TV All-in-One Set-Top Box to the press at the media day event jointly organized with KT Studio Genie and ENA at Novotel Ambassador in Seoul on May 18. [Photo by Yonhap]

KT Corp., a leading South Korean telecommunications provider, is intensifying its efforts to expand its media and content business after the remarkable success of the TV drama “Extraordinary Attorney Woo.”

The TV series, which topped Netflix’s weekly viewership chart of non-English TV shows for weeks, became a sensation and garnered widespread acclaim, proving to be a significant breakthrough for KT’s media and content business.

To further strengthen its media value chain, KT is focused on leveraging its production studio KT Studio Genie, cable channel ENA, online reading platform Milly’s Library, and music streamer Genie Music, with the aim of achieving 5 trillion won ($3.75 billion) in content sales alone by 2025.

“Last year, our content sector revenue increased by 31 percent and exceeded 500 billion won. The total revenue of the media sector is about 4.2 trillion won, and we are confident that we will achieve 5 trillion won by 2025,” said Kang Kook-hyun, head of customer business at KT, during its media day event jointly organized with KT Studio Genie and ENA at Novotel Ambassador in Seoul on Thursday. The event was prepared to share KT’s future media content strategy.

During the event, KT unveiled the Genie TV All-in-One Set-Top Box, which offers an enhanced content viewing experience. The device integrates an IPTV set-top box, wireless internet router, and artificial intelligence (AI) speaker into a single unit. With features such as voice boost and support for advanced video technologies like “HDR10+” and “Dolby Vision,” the set-top box provides the best picture quality and audio clarity, KT said.

KT Studio Genie, driven by the smash-hit TV series, plans to release 30 original TV series by 2024. The company is expanding its content into various genres such as action, thriller, and fantasy with the keyword “expansion of the spectrum.” For the second half of the year, it will launch a new thriller TV drama, “Lies Hidden in My Garden,” starring actors Kim Tae-hee and Lim Ji-yeon, who appeared in the hit Netflix original “The Glory.”

Cable channel ENA, which has experienced rapid growth since its launch, plans to expand its reach through various initiatives and original programming. It also seeks to collaborate with external creators and explore international markets through global intellectual property rights.