Is it the winner’s curse or an upheaval in the media landscape: JTBC’s crisis and the new order of sports broadcasting? > News

JTBC's liquidity crisis is the result of two negative factors: structural changes in the advertising market and excessive investment in sports broadcasting rights. Due to the explosive growth of OTT services, led by Netflix, the traditional broadcast advertising market is showing a steep decline every year, which has led to a serious deterioration in profitability across terrestrial and general programming channels. In this situation, JTBC broke with its past joint purchasing practices and made an aggressive bet to exclusively secure the Olympic and World Cup broadcasting rights. However, the expected profits from resale of broadcasting rights were lost due to the neglect of other broadcasters, and the burden of huge broadcasting rights fees was eventually transferred to corporate debt. Nice Credit Rating's significant downgrade of the credit ratings of JTBC and JoongAng Ilbo can be interpreted as a warning that such financial uncertainty will spread to financing risks across affiliates.

On the other hand, amid such upheaval in the media market, Naver's 'Chizijik' emerged as a new powerhouse, demonstrating its potential as a sports broadcasting platform. The record number of simultaneous users of 4.82 million in the first game of the North and Central America World Cup proves that viewers now prefer a streaming environment that allows real-time communication rather than one-way TV transmission. The 'watch-together' culture, which goes beyond simply watching games and analyzes games with popular streamers and shares emotions, has completely changed the grammar of existing sports broadcasting. Naver has captured this trend and is evolving into a comprehensive sports community that goes beyond a simple platform by providing highlights using AI technology and combining real-time data analysis services.

The advancement of technology is revolutionizing even the scenery on the broadcast screen. In this World Cup, the ultra-small camera 'Ref Cam' that matches the referee's point of view was introduced, making a qualitative leap in the viewing experience by vividly conveying the players' heavy breathing and sense of speed to the home room. In addition, digital twin technology, which replicates stadiums in 3D, improves the accuracy of tactical analysis and opens an era of immersive content that goes beyond simple viewing. These technological advances have further raised the expectations of viewers, suggesting that in the future sports broadcasting market, securing technological immersion rather than enormous capital will be the key to survival.

This trend is further solidified by the close alliance between the gaming industry and streaming platforms. The strategic business agreement between Krafton and Naver is a strategic decision to create a virtuous cycle of content encompassing both online and offline by incorporating the powerful IP of Battleground eSports into Chizijik's streaming ecosystem. Now, content is not simply transmitted unilaterally by broadcasters or platforms, but is transforming into a community-type asset that streamers and users interact with and create together. To keep pace with these changes, companies are putting their lives on the line by integrating fragmented platforms and expanding contact points where viewers can actively participate anytime, anywhere.