TVING ends Apple TV alliance, shuts brand channel Nov. 23

Homegrown OTT platform pursues "profitability," upgrading its platform through focus and discipline

TVING, one of South Korea's leading online video services (OTT), is ending its strategic partnership with global giant Apple TV. The move follows the natural expiration of the companies' contract and reflects a "focus and discipline" strategy aimed at strengthening the platform's ability to stand on its own amid a rapidly changing media landscape.

TVING said in an official notice through its customer service center on the 14th that it will fully terminate its Apple TV brand channel service at 4 p.m. on Nov. 23. The decision follows the final expiration of the content-service partnership agreement between the two companies.

After the service ends, users will no longer be able to access TVING's dedicated brand channel or watch related video-on-demand content previously available on Apple TV. To prevent confusion among existing users, the company said it is providing advance notice of the shutdown schedule and taking every precaution to ensure customers are not harmed.

Industry analysts say the end of the brand channel is part of TVING's broader push to improve profitability and survive independently as a homegrown OTT platform. TVING has recently achieved explosive traffic growth by securing exclusive online broadcasting rights for Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) games and scoring a string of hits with well-made original content. The prevailing view is that the company made a strategic decision to maximize its monthly active users (MAU) by driving users directly to its own app rather than offering its content indirectly through another platform.

A TVING representative said, "We deeply appreciate all the users who have loved the Apple TV brand channel," adding, "We will continue to make customer satisfaction our top priority and focus our companywide capabilities on providing more diverse, differentiated original content and enhanced services."