I thought TV would disappear when OTT took off... Rather, use increased.

TV usage rate rises to 70.9%... OTT usage rate also recorded 81.8%

The rate of watching OTT on TV is 36.4%... 12.6%p increase in one year

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Hyunmin Yoo = Despite the spread of online video services (OTT), TV usage did not decrease, but rather increased.

However, the way we use TV is changing.

There is analysis that the role of TV itself is changing as the number of users who consume various contents such as OTT and YouTube on TV screens is increasing, breaking away from the traditional method of watching programs scheduled by broadcasters at a fixed time.

◇ TV usage increases despite the spread of OTT... OTT viewing on TV rose 12.6%p in one year

According to the Korea Communications Commission's '2025 Broadcast Media Use Behavior Survey' on the 9th, the proportion of people who used TV more than 5 days a week last year was 70.9%, up 1.8 percentage points from the previous year (69.1%).

The average daily TV usage time was 2 hours and 28 minutes, an increase of 1 minute from the previous year.

Last year, the OTT usage rate was 81.8%, steadily increasing from 77.0% in 2023 and 79.2% in 2024. The proportion of smartphones as the main device for watching OTT (multiple responses) was the highest at 83.6%, but viewing through TV sets also reached 36.4%.

The OTT viewing rate through TV sets increased by 12.6 percentage points from 23.8% the previous year, while the OTT usage rate through smartphones decreased by 7.6 percentage points from the previous year. OTT use appears to be dispersing from smartphones to other screens such as TV.

TVs themselves are also moving beyond simple broadcast receivers.

The TV set ownership rate of all households did not change significantly at 94.9%, but the smart TV ownership rate steadily increased from 56.1% in 2023 to 65.7% in 2024 and 68.4% last year.

As the combination of smart TV and OTT becomes common, viewers are using TV not only by selecting broadcast channels, but also by running OTT applications on the TV screen or browsing Internet video content such as YouTube.

The OTT usage rate was high at over 96% among those in their 10s to 40s, and usage was also expanding among the elderly, with 88.9% in those in their 50s, 70.8% in their 60s, and 30.7% in those over 70.

◇ Spread of smart TV distribution… From broadcast awards to ‘home entertainment platform’

As the ways to watch broadcasts become more diverse, TVs are changing from a receiver for watching broadcasts to a screen for consuming various content. It is not that the role of TV has decreased, but rather that what screens we consume are changing.

There are also areas where TV still shows strength. Last year, the rate of recognizing TV as an essential medium in daily life was 23.0%, but it increased to 29.7% in disaster and calamity situations. 59.1% chose TV broadcasting as the most trustworthy medium in disaster situations, far ahead of portals and newspapers (17.1%) and messenger services (7.7%).

An official in the media industry said, “Just because the OTT usage rate has increased, it does not mean that TV usage will decrease.” He added, “With the spread of smart TVs, the usage behavior of watching OTT content on the big screen of TV has become natural, so OTT and TV are being combined into one viewing environment rather than replacing each other.”

He added, "TV's role is expanding as a 'home entertainment platform' where various contents such as broadcasting, OTT, and YouTube are consumed on one screen."

As an environment in which viewers consume the content they want on the platform and screen they want is established, media competition is expected to be reorganized to focus on what content is delivered and how, rather than 'TV or OTT'.