Wavve buys 40 percent of Kocowa for $71 million

Wavve acquired 40 percent of Kocowa, a Los Angeles-based streaming provider, for 90.1 billion won ($70.62 million) as it works to bring K-content to the North American market.

Kocowa, which stands for Korean Content Wave, is owned by SK Telecom, KBS, MBC and SBS. It streams only Korean programs and offers subtitles in a number of languages. The service was first made available in July 2017 and can be streamed in about 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico.

Wavve originals, such as webtoon-based drama series “Weak Hero Class 1” (2022), “The Law Café” (2022), “Cheer Up” (2022) and K-pop reality show “Welcome to NCT Universe,” are currently available for streaming through Kocowa.

Kocowa programming is also distributed by Amazon Prime Video, Google TV, Rakuten Viki, Roku, Comcast Xfinity, Xumo and COX.

Before the acquisition, content from Wavve could not be streamed overseas except for regions in Southeast Asia due to copyright issues.

“We aim to establish a system which could create synergy between Kocowa and Wavve,” Wavve CEO Lee Tae-hyun said in a press statement. “We’re only at the starting point but our ultimate goal is to become the best K-content platform within the global market as quickly as possible.”

The streaming market in Korea is set to change rapidly as the Tving-Seezn merger is to be completed by end of this month.

According to data compiled by the Fair Trade Commission from January to September, Wavve ranked No. 2 in the local streaming service market, with a 14.37 percent share, after Netflix, with a 38.22 percent share. After the merger is completed, Tving will beat Wavve, as Tving and Seezn together will have a combined market share of 18.05 percent.

Watcha, which is Korea’s No. 7 streaming service, is currently said to be struggling with weakening demand and intense pressure from foreign competitors, such as Netflix, Disney+ and Paramount+, according to local reports.

LG U+ may purchase 40 billion won worth of new shares from Watcha, but according to investment banking sources on Tuesday, the mobile carrier has reportedly backed out of the acquisition.

During a meeting organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT to discuss ways to promote exports of ICT-related products on Tuesday, Watcha CEO Park Tae-hoon emphasized that the service plans to “focus on attracting investment rather than selling shares.”

He briefly stated that the service is attempting to attract investment in various ways.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]