이 기사는 2021년 11월 24일 08시25분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

CJ ENM’s $775 million acquisition of Hollywood production company Endeavor Content is likely to boost a global expansion drive by its streaming service Tving as the South Korean media and entertainment giant seeks to “become Asia’s Marvel Studios” amid intensifying competition for original content.

Tving, which was split off as a separate entity from CJ ENM in October 2020, is led by co-chief executives Yang Ji-eul and Lee Myung-han.

Yang, an expert in overseas markets, leads an effort to expand across geographies. Appointed in the new role earlier this year, Lee focuses on the development of original content for the streaming platform. A content production expert, Lee previously served as head of CJ ENM’s cable channel tvN.

Tving is 70.5% owned by CJ ENM, with its content partners Naver and JTBC Studios holding 15.4% and 14.1% stakes respectively.

Lee told reporters early this year that Tving will double down on original content and franchise intellectual property to grow as a global streaming platform, with a goal to increase its paid subscribers to eight million by 2023 through expansion into new markets such as the US, Japan and Southeast Asia.

CJ ENM’s acquisition of an 80% stake in Endeavor Content, which was announced last Friday, will pave the way for Tving to expand its presence in the US market, industry watchers said. The California-based company is known for its production and distribution of films like La La Land and Call Me By Your Name and popular BBC dramas.

CJ ENM also announced last Friday that it will create a new studio subsidiary dedicated to producing multi genre content in addition to its drama production unit Studio Dragon, signaling a shift to a multi-studio system. A high volume of content produced by CJ ENM’s studios, including Endeavor Content, will stream on Tving, helping to enhance its competitiveness amid rising competition from foreign streaming services like Netflix and Disney Plus.

CJ ENM could explore a partnership with Endeavor Group Holdings, which will keep a 20% stake in Endeavor Content after the deal closes. Endeavor Group is a global sports and entertainment company that owns premier mixed martial arts organization UFC, entertainment agency WME and sports management company IMG.

Tving brought in 75.6 billion won ($63.6 million) in revenue in the third quarter this year, but recorded a net loss of 41.7 billion won. Successful expansion into overseas markets is seen as key for the streaming service to swing to a profit given a limited subscriber base in the domestic market.

“There are more than 300 projects that Endeavor Content will soon start to produce or is considering for the production,” an official at CJ ENM said. “CJ ENM has secured a vast volume of original intellectual property by acquiring Endeavor Content.” (Reporting by Seon-ho Kim)