The domestic over-the-top (OTT) service Tving has decided to restrict sharing accounts with users outside the family, similar to Netflix.
According to the information technology (IT) industry on the 23rd, Tving recently announced that it would only allow account sharing with members of the same household. Currently, Tving does not impose any restrictions on watching Tving programs at different locations or devices with one account. However, starting next month on the 2nd, it will change its policy to impose such restrictions.
Accordingly, Tving has announced that users will need to register the TV, tablet, and other devices they use as a 'standard device,' and only users watching on those devices will be considered 'members of the same household.' If instances of watching Tving with the account from an internet connection with a different IP address than the standard device are confirmed, identity verification will be performed separately, and those who do not pass will be restricted from viewing.
The reason Tving has moved to restrict account sharing is believed to be for improving profitability. In the early stages of the service, user acquisition was important, but now that the OTT market has settled, enhancing profitability has become more crucial.
Tving is making various attempts to increase its users, but it has yet to escape from the red. As of October last year, the monthly active user count (MAU) was 8.1 million, ranking second after Netflix, which had 11.91 million during the same period, maintaining its lead among domestic OTT platforms. However, last year's operating loss is estimated to be around 71 billion won.