Starting June 19, North American viewers will be able to watch various Korean Wave programs on KBS WORLD through NEW ID’s K-Pop TV channel ‘NEW K.ID.’ NEW ID (CEO June Park), a digital business affiliate of entertainment, media and sports group NEW (Next Entertainment World, Chairman Kim Woo-taek), signed a global content partnership with KBS’ overseas broadcasting TV channel KBS WORLD (Director Park Chun-ki) in late May.
NEW ID launched the ad-supported K-Pop digital TV channel NEW K.ID for North American viewers in February this year, and is currently programming/broadcasting various content across all genres from 24 partners. NEW K.ID is a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel that allows viewers to enjoy premium K-Pop entertainment content for free through a TV remote control without having to subscribe or install a separate channel on smart TVs such as LG and VIZIO.
FAST’s flagship North American CTV (Connected TV) advertising market has been growing steeply, with more than 10 billion dollars in North America alone, in line with the recent surge in subscription-based models.
KBS WORLD is KBS’s overseas broadcasting TV channel, which is broadcast to 140 million households in 114 countries around the world. The popular programs of KBS1 and 2 TV are subtitled with seven languages, including English, Japanese, Chinese, and Malay, which deliver Korean Wave content to various parts of the world, and it is a representative Korean Wave content channel where visitors can experience and learn the most diverse Korean culture available at 1,700 hotels in 46 countries.
With the partnership between KBS WORLD and NEW ID, North American viewers will be watching KBS WORLD’s original content “We K-Pop,” “K-Rush” and “K-Pop Festival Live”, and more since the third week of June. In addition, the two companies decided to launch channels ‘KBS WORLD’ and ‘KBS WORLD 24’ on digital TV broadcasting platforms that will be operated by NEW ID in Latin America/Europe in the second half of this year.
KBS WORLD 24 channel provides high-quality KBS content for 7 million Koreans abroad and consists of cultural information programs on news and KBS1 TV channels together with selected past popular entertainment shows and dramas. This is the first time for a KBS foreign broadcasting channel to enter the FAST market.
KBS WORLD Director Park Chun-ki said, “In the rapidly changing digital media environment, KBS WORLD’s original content has been provided on various streaming service platforms, further strengthening the foundation for the spread of the digital Korean Wave. It is expected not only to generate profits from KBS content, but also to increase the recognition of Korean culture and to increase the brand value of Korea.
June Park, CEO of NEW ID, said, “To increase the value of K-Content in the global market, we need to be more familiar with the lives of global viewers. KBS WORLD’s content is a premium content made for overseas viewers from the beginning, and I am confident that it will be loved by viewers who have not experienced the Korean Wave.
