Chapter 200
Hanshin Media’s main auditorium.
With every employee gathered inside, CEO Han Taesung took the stage for a special announcement.
“Everyone, today I want to reveal Hanshin Media’s new future.”
Han Taesung gestured toward the screen behind him.
The logo appeared.
[NEW WAVE]
“Hanshin Media’s own OTT platform, New Wave, will officially launch on January 4th, 2019.”
Cheers and applause erupted throughout the auditorium.
“For the past two years, we have been preparing for this moment.”
“And through the success of Kingdom of Blood, we gained not only tremendous confidence, but also a much deeper understanding of exactly why we need our own platform.”
Han Taesung moved to the next slide.
“New Wave began trial operations on December 4th ahead of next month’s official launch.”
“As of today, just fifteen days later, we have already surpassed five million registered users.”
“Our target is ten million by launch.”
New Wave had already passed every beta test for technical stability and user satisfaction.
It was currently running its trial service with approximately four thousand titles, excluding its own original content.
Another round of applause filled the auditorium.
Standing beside the stage, I watched the employees cheer.
There really isn’t much time left now.
Before my regression, Hanshin Media had sold Mega Cinema around this period and eventually withdrawn from the media business altogether.
But this time, instead of retreating, it was preparing for a new leap forward.
After the special presentation ended, several executives gathered in Han Taesung’s office.
“By the way, I heard the mood in the industry has been getting unusual lately.”
Baek Seonghan brought up recent industry developments.
“In what way?”
“Rumors are spreading that several major conglomerates are seriously considering entering the OTT business.”
“The major telecom companies are looking at it, and there’s also talk that CN Media is preparing its own OTT platform.”
I calmly nodded.
Just as expected.
According to my memories before the regression, the domestic OTT market would become a battlefield starting in 2019.
New overseas OTT services would enter Korea.
Domestic OTT platforms would begin appearing one after another.
“Don’t worry.”
“Even if they start preparing as quickly as possible, it’ll take them at least a year to enter properly.”
“By then, we’ll already have secured the market first.”
Kim Eunkyung smiled at me.
“Times like this really make it obvious how good your foresight is, Director Min.”
“Of course, I agree.”
Baek Seonghan continued.
“But even if we ignore the others, CN Media has a lot of content of its own.”
“And from what I’ve heard, they’re planning to form an alliance with the other cable channels, except YTBS, to secure content supply.”
“With CN Media’s capital....”
Han Taesung clicked his tongue.
He didn’t want to admit it, but he had no choice.
“Don’t worry too much.”
“The key is content.”
“We already have more than fifty original titles that can’t be seen on terrestrial or cable television.”
“And that includes Japanese and Taiwanese productions.”
I continued.
“More importantly, CN Media will ultimately be focused on the domestic market.”
“We’re going global.”
Through our cooperation with Quantum, we were already preparing to use Quantum’s overseas server infrastructure to launch simultaneously in ninety countries.
“You’re right.”
Baek Seonghan scratched his head and laughed.
“I guess with the launch getting this close, I’m getting nervous. Hahaha.”
“And we still have Director Song Jaehyun’s I Can See the Money, which hasn’t been released overseas anywhere.”
I had deliberately refused to sell the overseas rights to I Can See the Money, other than festival screenings and the domestic release.
All for this day.
Among countless overseas fans who wanted to watch Song Jaehyun’s film, rumors were already spreading.
I Can See the Money would be available only on New Wave.
And a few days later, as expected, OTT-related news articles began pouring out.
[ST Telecom Considering Launch of Proprietary OTT Platform]
[CN Media Begins Development of OTT Platform]
[Foreign OTT Service Diz Plus Makes Full-Scale Move Into Korean Market]
So it’s finally starting.
I remembered the timeline before my regression.
The OTT war had started around this time back then too.
But there was one major difference between then and now.
This time, New Wave is the frontrunner.
And we would be the ones leading the market.
Just then, my phone rang.
I checked the number.
It was international.
Reid Hayes?
I quickly answered.
But the voice on the other end wasn’t one I recognized.
“Hello?”
“Ah, is this Director Min Kibaek of Big Picture... no, Hanshin Media?”
“Yes.”
“This is Min Kibaek.”
“Who is this?”
“Hello. My name is Michael Johnson from Wannabe Brothers.”
My eyebrows rose.
Wannabe Brothers?
A major Hollywood studio?
I calmed my surprise and kept my voice composed.
“Ah, yes.”
“What can I do for you?”
“Well, the reason I’m calling is that we were extremely impressed by Kingdom of Blood.”
“And we’d like to discuss a co-production project with Hanshin Media.”
“A co-production?”
I swallowed dryly without meaning to.
“Yes.”
“We believe combining Korean content with Hollywood’s production system could create tremendous synergy.”
A smile slowly spread across my face.
Ha.
So even Hollywood is starting to move now.
“That’s an interesting proposal.”
“If possible, I’d like to meet and discuss it in more detail.”
“Thank you.”
