TVING partners with Disney+ to expand into Japan amid growing global ambitions : zum 뉴스

Homegrown OTT platform TVING will officially launch its branded section, “TVING Collection on Disney+,” in Japan on November 5. / Courtesy of TVING

Korean over-the-top (OTT) service TVING is joining hands with Disney+ to make its debut in Japan. Moving beyond the saturated domestic OTT market, the company aims to replicate the success of K-content with a new wave of K-OTT abroad.

TVING announced on October 4 that it has entered into a strategic partnership with global OTT giant Disney+ and will officially launch “TVING Collection on Disney+” within Disney+ Japan. This marks the first time Disney+ has created a dedicated local OTT brand section on its platform in the Asia-Pacific region.

Launching on November 5, the TVING Collection will serve as an official hub for Japanese viewers to access TVING original productions. A selection of TVING’s hit originals, as well as blockbuster titles from its parent company CJ ENM, will be unveiled sequentially. To coincide with its global expansion, TVING will simultaneously release its new original series Dear X in 19 countries, including Korea and Japan.

This is not the first time a Korean OTT service has ventured overseas. With the domestic market long saturated and growth slowing, expansion abroad has become a necessity rather than an option. While Netflix continues to dominate, homegrown services such as TVING and Wavve have been posting hundreds of billions of won in annual losses.

Watcha became the first Korean OTT platform to enter Japan in September 2020, launching an independent service there. Wavve, meanwhile, introduced its K-entertainment platform “KOCOWA+” in 2017, offering services across the U.S. and Canada and later expanding to Europe and Oceania last year.

However, unlike the global success of K-content, these K-OTT platforms have struggled to achieve meaningful results in subscriber growth or profitability. Weighed down by competition from deep-pocketed global players like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, domestic services have failed to gain traction. To make matters worse, Watcha is currently undergoing court-led rehabilitation, while Wavve is preparing a merger with TVING as part of its turnaround strategy.

TVING’s approach differs in that, instead of launching an independent platform, it has chosen to partner with an established global service already influential in the local market. By leveraging Disney+’s presence through a dedicated section, TVING aims to raise brand awareness and eventually pave the way for a direct market entry.

TVING CEO Choi Joo-hee said, “Partnering with Disney, a brand with a strong presence and long-standing history in Japan, offers the most effective opportunity to showcase our content to local audiences. We will continue to present compelling K-content to a wider global audience and strive to grow beyond Korea’s No. 1 OTT into a truly global K-OTT platform.”

Celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, TVING has declared 2025 its first year of global expansion. Starting with Japan, the company plans to broaden its reach across the Asia-Pacific region and the Americas.

※This article was translated by an AI tool and edited by a professional translator.

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