Courtesy of Korea Baseball Organization
The South Korean Baseball League (KBO) revealed on Monday a groundbreaking streaming rights deal with CJ ENM, the media and entertainment arm of CJ Group. For the next three seasons, CJ ENM will exclusively broadcast Korea Baseball Organization games on its streaming platform, Tving.
The deal, valued at 135 billion won ($101.6 million), marks a substantial increase from the previous five-year contract worth 110 billion won, which involved a consortium of portal sites and telecommunication firms including Naver and SK Telecom.
Under the new agreement, KBO games will be available on Tving, a paid subscription-based platform. However, to commemorate the deal, CJ ENM will offer free streaming of games from the start of the preseason on Saturday until April 30, the conclusion of the first full month of the regular season. All games during this period will be streamed in full high definition at 1,080p.
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| ▲ This image shows the KBO's logo next to that of Tving, the local streaming platform that will carry KBO games for the next three seasons / Courtesy of Korea Baseball Organization |
The preseason runs from Saturday to March 19, with the regular season set to commence on March 23. CJ ENM will produce and stream preseason games not televised elsewhere.
Starting May 1, fans can access regular season and postseason games on Tving for a monthly fee, beginning at 5,500 won for the "standard with ads" package launched on Monday. Tving is also offering a promotional rate of 100 won for the first month for first-time subscribers purchasing the standard with ads package between Monday and April 30. The streaming service is exploring the addition of a picture-in-picture option for live KBO games for viewers on the standard package.
Tving is accessible on mobile phones, tablets, computers, and smart TVs, allowing up to four profiles per account and two simultaneous streaming devices.
In the regular season, Tving will introduce a real-time rewind function and a live chat feature for every game. Additionally, Tving plans to select one "Tving Super Match" per week, accompanied by a special preview show featuring interviews with managers and players, game coverage, and a postgame show.
As part of the deal, the KBO will lift restrictions on the use of game clips on social media, enabling fans to create their own GIFs, memes, or shorts using KBO highlights.
The bidding for the new streaming rights deal began on Dec. 4, 2023, with CJ ENM selected as the preferred negotiating partner on Jan. 5, 2024. The final agreement was reached on Feb. 16, as confirmed by the KBO.
Sayart
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