According to the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), there were 1.345 million pre-IPTV (TV portal) service subscribers as of February 2008. In addition, telcos decided to make a large investment of 1.5 trillion KRW (US$1.5 billion US dollars) in 2008 on network, platforms, set-top boxes, and content for the commercialization of IPTV. In 2007, the Electronics and Telecommunications Institute (ETRI) ‘IPTV Industry Outlook Report’ forecast that the number of subscribers would surpass two million in 2008, 2.5 million in 2009, and 3.3million in 2012. It also projected a market size of at least US$540 million in 2008, and US$660 million in 2009. KBI researchers, Kwon Ho-young and Kim Young-soo, conducted an in-depth study on IPTV user behavior through the ‘Analysis of the Characteristics and Behavior of IPTV Users and the Comparison between IPTV Users and Non-users.’ 55.3 percent were men and 44.7 percent were women, with the largest age bracket in their 30’s, showing that relatively younger people are using IPTV. However, their average age was higher than non-users. In addition, most were university students or graduates, and had administrative or sales jobs while there were four people on average in their families was four and had a monthly income that was lower than US$3,000. Secondly, the specific ways of IPTV usage were divided into the way of use, form of subscription, time passed after subscription, main time of use, and daily use. 61.7 percent of the respondents answered that they are using IPTV with other services such as cable TV, and satellite TV. The main reason for this seems to be the fact that terrestrial channels are inaccessible through IPTV. 85.3 percent were subscribed to bundled Triple Play products provided with VoIP and broadband. This is because IPTV service providers, originally telcos, have chiefly marketed IPTV products to their internet subscriber base. However, the other reason is that bundled products come with an attractive discount. In addition, 65 percent or two thirds of the respondents were categorized as new subscribers. For the main time of usage, 52.7 percent answered that they are using IPTV indiscriminately during weekdays and weekends. On average, 57 percent of the subjects said that they use IPTV between 1 hour and 3 hours a day. Thirdly, the difference between the average score of the expectation (GS) and satisfaction (GO) turned out to be large on several categories. They were the option to watch a program series without pause, time shift, and replay. The gap in the average score of GO was also relatively wide, showing the merits of VOD. Moreover, GO on discount on bundled products, wider choices of content, and provision of new contents were higher than the GS. Fourthly, the largest discontentment on IPTV came from the excessive amount of pay content. Recently, pay IPTV content is surging in number compared to the initial stage of the service, fueling the disgruntlement. Moreover, it now takes seven days instead of the original 12 hours after the first broadcast for terrestrial contents to be aired for free on IPTV. This was the result of the renegotiation on the contents supply contract between IPTV providers and the terrestrial broadcasters. Meanwhile, the usage of pay IPTV contents was low, implying that users lack the willingness to pay for IPTV contents. The following points of dissatisfaction were: program update delays, difficulty handling the remote control, frequent malfunctioning, and poor reception. However, the low disappointment rates on monthly fees, difficulty to search through contents and insufficient amount of contents showed that these problems have been tackled since launch. It turned out that IPTV subscribers usually use various types of media, but spent less time on the internet compared to non-subscribers. In other words, since heavy internet users can watch video content including TV programs on the internet, less would opt for IPTV services. Lastly, in the analysis on the preference toward different genres of IPTV contents, genres were grouped into 15. The list showed the greatest inclination toward Korean drama series, followed by movies, comedy shows, overseas drama series, and sports programs. This means that terrestrial TV programs prove the most popular. In contrast, interactive contents on on-line game and karaoke programs, home shopping and finance recorded low scores, showing that they are not ready for further promotion. In conclusion, users were (less) satisfied with the IPTV service than expected. The main reasons for discontentment were the surfeit of pay contents, program update delays, and the difficulty to use remote controls. The causes for dissatisfaction were grouped into economic and technical factors. IPTV users showed greater preference toward new products and a higher sense of self-efficiency like subscribers to other media, compared to non-users. However, demographic factors between users and non-users did not show much difference, except that users’ average age was slightly higher. If IPTV users are combined with non-users with heavy internet use, the conclusion could be that in general, people at relatively older ages with low internet usage subscribe to IPTV. From the perspective of IPTV users, there is no doubt that IPTV, as a crossover or integrated platform, is an advancement of linear platforms of the past. In other words, IPTV is a sophisticated medium with functions such as interactivity, integrity, and better connectivity. Moreover, the greatest strengths of IPTV would be that the contents which were provided through separate media in the past can now be aired and enjoyed in an integrated system. In addition, with the VOD-style feature, users can choose anytime whatever content they like. In this regard, service providers should first develop specific ways to tackle the economic and technical inconveniences felt by users.
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