South Korean SBS is discussing co-production of the show with TNT, STS and Friday

A number of Russian television channels, including TNT, STS and Pyatnitsa, are discussing with the South Korean television and radio broadcaster Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS) the joint production and localization of Korean shows in the Russian Federation. The reason is the growing competition between television and online cinemas, analysts believe; broadcasters are trying to maintain their audience and leadership in video viewing. But the idea can be expensive, experts say, since Korean companies are accustomed to investing significant budgets in production.

South Korean SBS is discussing the joint production of a show with the TNT, STS and Pyatnitsa television channels, Kommersant was told by the State South Korean Creative Content Agency (KOCCA). SBS confirmed this information. TNT talks about negotiations with “partners from the Middle East and Asia,” but does not want to “comment prematurely.” “Friday” claims that there are no negotiations on co-production yet. STS declined to comment.

SBS is one of the four largest broadcast networks in Korea. According to information on the company’s website, 36.9% of it belongs to Taeyoung (TY Holdings), which develops real estate, media and logistics businesses; information about the remaining shareholders is hidden. SBS includes entertainment channels SBS Plus and SBS funE (100%), video streaming Wavve (20.2%; second place in the Korean market), as well as a number of technology companies involved in servicing the video production process – SBS A&T (99.6%) , Studio (98%). The revenue of the parent structure at the end of 2022, according to the Korean MediaToday, amounted to 4.9 billion won (70.8 billion rubles).

After leading Western content providers left the Russian market, online cinemas and TV channels, following other players, began to look for new sources of replenishing their catalogs. Thus, the Moskino network began to regularly show cartoons by Japanese and Korean directors, the art association CoolConnections with Karo held a Japanese film festival, and Start, Okko, Kion and Ivi purchased new films from Korean copyright holders (see Kommersant on 27 Martha).

Russian viewers are already familiar with Korean dramas, but the segment of the show may turn out to be alien to them, market participants interviewed by Kommersant fear. At the same time, programs in the format of Running Man (an entertaining Korean program in which participants perform tasks in an uncertain time) “are in tune with the reality shows that TNT, Friday and STS produced over the years,” argues Kirill Tanaev, director of the Institute of Contemporary Media. “From this point of view, the choice of a foreign partner is quite logical,” he says.

Television in Russia remains the leader in video viewing, and channels are increasing the production of original content, notes Alexandra Modestova, general director of Expocontent. According to her, TNT, Pyatnitsa and STS occupy leading positions in this niche, and streaming companies compete with them. The latter increased purchases of Korean content by 35% over the nine months year-on-year, the expert added. At the same time, in Korea, after Netflix entered the market, local streaming services are also actively fighting for viewers and income from them, Ms. Modestova emphasizes. “It turns out that cooperation between television holdings of the Russian Federation and Korea in the current realities is promising for both parties: the main motivation for such a decision is the fight for the audience,” she says.

The amount of investment in co-production will depend on a number of factors: the chosen format, the participants involved, complex studio decorations, etc., notes Mr. Tanaev. Alexandra Modestova agrees with him, adding that significant media inflation may also affect the final budget.

The project will be expensive by the standards of Russian television, Ms. Modestova believes. “In the same “Mask” (the singer performs in a mask, and the audience needs to guess him.— “Kommersant”) the naked eye can see significant production costs (approximately one production alone costs about 30 million rubles),” she says. At the same time, according to her, the budgets that Korean content producers usually work with are “significantly larger than those to which Russian producers are accustomed.”

Yulia Yurasova