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Newsletter N°82 - November 2025 

🎬 Media & Content: Korean Main Streaming Platform Tving launches New User Interface Focusing on Live Service: From Passive Viewing to Daily Streaming Habit

Strategic Redesign for Habit Formation

Tving announced a comprehensive redesign of its live streaming service on October 30, 2025, positioning itself as a "daily habit OTT" by mimicking social media's addictive design patterns. The overhaul represents a deliberate strategy to combat Korea's booming short-form video consumption, where users spend 48 hours and 73 minutes monthly on short-form platforms compared to just 7 hours and 14 minutes on traditional OTT services.​

 

Revolutionary "Press-and-Play" Interface

The redesigned live service employs a SNS-style auto-scrolling mechanism as its cornerstone feature. When users launch the app, popular live channels auto-play immediately, and vertically scrolling (like TikTok or Instagram) reveals successive popular channels in continuous flow. This contrasts sharply with traditional grid-based channel browsing, creating a passive discovery experience that mirrors TikTok's infamous engagement algorithms.​

 

Key interface innovations include:

  • Auto-play on launch: Premium content plays instantly without user intervention

  • Scrollable feed mode: Swipe down to discover additional channels seamlessly

  • List view toggle: Switch to traditional channel lists for intentional browsing

  • Program guide integration: Top menu shows scheduled programming for advance planning

  • Notification system: Set reminders for upcoming content​

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Tving’s new user interface is all about live service

Massive Content Expansion

Tving expanded its live offering from ~33 channels to approximately 200—a 6-fold increase that positions live streaming as the platform's key differentiator against competitors. The expanded lineup encompasses:​

  • News channels: KBS, YTN, MBN real-time broadcasts

  • Entertainment originals: tvN, JTBC, OCN, Mnet live programming

  • Creator content: Independent broadcaster live streams

  • Sports & events: KBO baseball, various live performances​

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The "같이볼래?" (Wanna Watch Together?) feature enables synchronized live viewing of dramas and entertainment, while "팬덤중계" (Fandom Broadcast) pairs celebrity hosts with baseball games—positioning sports as social experiences rather than solo consumption.​

 

Personalization Through Behavioral Analytics

Unlike Netflix's algorithmic recommendations, Tving's new system employs viewing pattern analysis to deliver hyper-personalized recommendations combining both live channels and connected VOD content. Users can:​

  • Create custom favorite channel collections

  • Browse by genre filters (drama, entertainment, animation, news)

  • Receive AI-curated suggestions based on viewing history

  • Access related on-demand content from watched live programs​

 

Strategic Context: Korean OTT Consolidation

The redesign comes amid unprecedented consolidation in Korean streaming. The Tving-Wavve merger (approved with pricing restrictions until December 2026) created South Korea's largest combined domestic streaming service, commanding approximately 40% of Korean streaming market share (Tving 16%, post-merger entity targeting 30%+).​

Tving's live service overhaul directly addresses research findings that habit formation is critical to OTT retention, with emotional commitment and word-of-mouth intention strongly correlated to habitual daily usage. By engineering "press-and-play" mechanics similar to short-form video platforms, Tving aims to recapture audience attention from YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels that collectively dominate Korean digital consumption.​

 

Rollout and Future Implications

The redesigned live service launched on Android and PC versions first on October 30, with sequential updates planned for iOS and smart TV platforms. Tving executives emphasized that live streaming represents a crucial competitive moat against global platforms lacking Korea's terrestrial broadcaster partnerships.​

This redesign signals a broader industry shift: Korean OTT platforms are competing not on content depth but on engagement mechanics borrowed from social platforms. By converting passive spectators into habitual daily users through SNS-style interfaces, Tving positions itself to capitalize on Korea's sophisticated streaming infrastructure while fending off international competitors investing heavily in Korean market share.

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