Even 10,000 Won Feels Too Much... OTT Users Turn to Account Sharing and Ad-Supported Plans

Perceived Fair Subscription Fee at 7,968 Won, But Actual Spending Is Over 3,000 Won Higher
Share of Netflix and TVING Users Choosing Ad-Supported Plans Soars to 34.8%
YouTube Premium Makes Solo Gains, Usage Rate Climbs to 20.6%

Viewers watching OTT on their smartphones before bedtime

It has been found that domestic online video service (OTT) users are actively utilizing account sharing, ad-supported plans, and partnership discounts to reduce their subscription costs.

According to the report "OTT Usage Patterns in the Era of Value-for-Money Portfolios" published by the Korea Creative Content Agency on March 10, 60.3% of paid OTT users share their accounts. This represents a 3.3 percentage point increase from the previous year's 57.0%. The rate of users taking advantage of partnership discounts—such as bundled telecom packages, credit card discounts, and membership deals—also reached 64.7%.

This is the result of a growing consumer tendency to squeeze spending as multi-subscription has become commonplace. Paid OTT users subscribe to an average of 1.8 services and spend 10,990 won per month. They consider an appropriate subscription fee for a single service to be 7,968 won. When the perceived appropriate subscription fee is multiplied by the average number of subscriptions, the amount comes to 14,342 won, which is more than 3,000 won higher than the actual amount spent, revealing a significant gap.

While the perceived appropriate subscription fee rose by 674 won from the previous year, the maximum amount users are willing to pay actually dropped by 986 won. This is interpreted as a sign that, as users increasingly need to subscribe to two or more services to access desired content, they are scrutinizing the marginal cost of each individual service more strictly.

In fact, among Netflix and TVing users, the proportion choosing ad-supported plans surged to 34.8%, a sharp increase of 10.2 percentage points from the previous year's 24.6%. Of those using ad-supported plans, 87.3% said they would continue to use them in the future. Compared to 85.2% in the 2024 survey, acceptance of ads is actually rising.

The situation is similar for Coupang Play, which launched a free ad-supported service in June last year. Among existing paid users, 31.3% switched to the ad-supported model. As Coupang Play is perceived as a service included with the Coupang Wow membership, switching to the ad-supported plan directly reduces cost burdens.

In this way, ad-supported plans have completely shed initial concerns that they might be an inconvenient alternative, and have now become a rational consumption strategy. Platforms are also leveraging these plans as a major revenue source, achieving both advertising profits and subscriber retention.

Paradoxically, the usage rate of YouTube Premium rose to 20.6%, up 6.0 percentage points from the previous year’s 14.6%. This is an exceptional rise in a market increasingly focused on cost-saving, and is attributed to the convenience of the "all-in-one platform," which bundles general videos, music streaming (YouTube Music), and short-form videos (YouTube Shorts) under a single subscription fee. Rather than subscribing to several fragmented services, consumers find it more reasonable to maintain one integrated platform that offers a variety of functions.

As fatigue from multiple subscriptions accumulates, the convenience of covering various genres becomes a key criterion for platform choice. Kim Inae, Senior Researcher of the Data Policy Team at the Korea Creative Content Agency, analyzed, "As the gap between spending and perceived value widens, consumer resistance to price hikes and multiple subscriptions will inevitably intensify," and added, "Bundle and integrated platform strategies that provide subscribers with rational options could become the key to market survival."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.