Watcha to expand into webtoons and music and go public

Tech

Published: 22 Feb. 2022, 16:42

Watcha to expand into webtoons and music and go public

Won Ji-hyun, chief operating officer of Watcha, announces the company's plan to expand into music and webtoons this year and introduce its service globally next year during a press conference held in Yeouido, western Seoul, Tuesday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Watcha will expand into music and webtoons this year and introduce its service globally next year, chief operating officer and co-founder Won Ji-hyun said on Tuesday.

“Watcha will transform itself into Watcha 2.0," he said at a press conference held in Yeouido, western Seoul.

The company currently focuses on video streaming.

"The new service will provide not only video streaming but expand into entertainment subscriptions, including music and webtoons. Through Watcha, users will not only watch, but read and listen to new content all in one platform."

When the new service begins this year, Watcha will roll out new a new subscription model that includes the music and webtoon categories. Currently, Watcha charges 7,900 won ($6.61) a month for a single-user account and 12,900 won for an account that allows up to four people to watch at the same time.

Watcha is currently only available in Korea and Japan. No regions or dates were specified for the expansion.

Founded in 2011 under the name Frograms, Watcha started out with as a rating and recommendation service called Watchapedia, which was released in August 2012. If people rate videos they have watched, Watchapedia recommends other videos that the user is likely to enjoy.

It started a streaming in January 2016 using the data from Watchapedia. The app had 1.51 million subscribers as of July last year, according to market tracker WiseApp.

By that measure, Watcha is No. 4 in Korea, below Netflix, Wavve and Tving.

Won argues that retention is key.

The retention rate refers to the percentage of the subscribers that continue paying from one month to the next. Watcha had the highest retention rate of the Korean services, according to data from App Annie in September, although exact figures were not released.

"The reason we could achieve that retention rate is because we use the immense data we've accumulated over the years through Watchapedia to give the best recommendations to users," Won said.

"We've also been collecting people's preferences on music and webtoons, and we will take that data to deliver what best fits their needs."

Watcha ultimately aims to become the go-to app for all sorts of entertainment by continuing to harvest the data of its customers. It will build a database of preferences for other entertainment products, such as games and theater, and provide new subscription models in the future, according to CEO Park Tae-hoon.

"By 2030, we aim to have 100 million paid subscribers to Watcha. Our goal is to give a truly individualized entertainment experience to users," Park said.

Watcha is currently preparing to go public this year "at the earliest," according to Park. The company has chosen NH Investment & Securities as the underwriter.

"We would have to watch the market conditions and have discussions with our underwriter and shareholders, but we don't expect it to take too long," he said.

Investors have been dumping a wide range of entertainment and tech companies as higher interest rates are driving them toward more established and profitable enterprises.

The company said its shareholders include Atinum Investment Association, Company K Partners, Korea Development Bank and Kakao Investment, but it declined to break down the share ownership percentages.

Twenty new originals will be released this year, including drama series "Ultimate Weapon Alice," documentary "Club House: Hanwha Eagles" and the second season of "Double Trouble."

It will also exclusively offer foreign shows such as the fourth season of BBC's "Killing Eve" in May and HBO's "Station Eleven" on Wednesday.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]