SEOUL – Netflix has promised to back and cultivate the South Korean showrunners and studios behind viral shows like Squid Game, outlining how it plans to spend some of the US$2.5 billion (S$3.4 billion) it has earmarked for K-drama.
Co-chief executive officer Ted Sarandos said on Thursday that his company will bankroll training programmes for the next generation of auteurs and entertainers, both in front of and behind the camera.
Netflix will work with local organisations to identify and groom young talent, he added.
Those initiatives underscore how South Korean programmes like The Glory have in past years emerged as a surprise catalyst for Netflix, which needs hot original content to differentiate it from rivals such as Disney and Apple.
About three-fifths of Netflix’s users have watched a South Korean show, and viewing time for those programmes has grown sixfold in just four years, he said.
About 90 per cent of the viewers for South Korean romance-genre content hail from abroad, Mr Sarandos said.
Netflix in April pledged to spend US$2.5 billion over the next four years in the country.
South Korea has already become one of Netflix’s biggest suppliers of TV shows and films, helping fuel a surge in global subscriptions as more consumers tune in to Korean dramas and reality shows.
But the boom has drawn protests from local content creators who complain they do not have a proportionate share in that success, and from Internet providers who want Netflix to pay for a spike in online streaming activity.
Mr Sarandos is visiting Seoul for three days to discuss its investment plans with South Korean production partners and government officials, including Prime Minister Han Duk-soo.
The Netflix executive argued that investing broadly in creators and production should generate far bigger ripple effects in the economy than simple profit-sharing.
“I wouldn’t say conflict, I’d say that there’s opportunity as businesses evolve,” Mr Sarandos said, responding to a question about a parallel dispute with South Korean telecom network providers. “There’s a clear and direct symbiotic relationship between creative companies like ours and Internet industries.”
Netflix’s sales in Korea jumped by 22 per cent to 773.3 billion won (S$802 million) in 2022 after the company increased the cost of a monthly subscription, according to Mr Byun Jae-il, a main opposition party lawmaker who is a member of the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee of the National Assembly.
Although the price hike helped raise sales, the new policy hit the number of subscribers in the country.
Paying users slid 30 per cent to 1.17 million in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier, Mr Byun said.
Netflix is also in a legal fight with SK Broadband over payments for using its network.
The Internet provider is blaming Netflix for explosive traffic growth and demanding the US company pay for using its network.
Netflix is fighting back in court, arguing it has no obligation to pay network usage fees. BLOOMBERG
