WarnerTV Heads to Korea

SEOUL/BURBANK: Warner Bros. International Branded Services has signed a deal that brings WarnerTV to Korea via telco KT’s IPTV service QOOK TV, which reaches 1.25 million homes.

WarnerTV rolls out in Korea as a VOD service, free of charge to those who purchase QOOK TV’s subscription video-on-demand programming package. It will feature blockbuster theatricals as well as U.S. dramas and sitcoms; at launch WarnerTV in Korea will deliver access to 150-plus features and more than 500 episodes of content. The lineup includes the Harry Potter franchise, 300, The Mentalist, The Closer, Gossip Girl and Nip/Tuck. In addition. the complete first four seasons of Friends will be available for the first time in Korea.

Jong-Ryeol Suh, KT’s head of the media business unit, noted, "For Korean fans of movies and American television series, QOOK TV will be their favorite new playground. Also, it will offer additional value to the viewers who like to study English by offering favorite American TV series such as Friends with English subtitles.”

Malcolm Dudley-Smith, the executive VP of business management at Warner Bros. International Branded Services, added: “The launch of WarnerTV on QOOK TV marks our first branded service launch in the highly important Korean market, and we couldn’t be happier to have KT, the country’s number one provider of IPTV services, as our partner. This deal continues a strategic relationship that the studio has had with KT as our video-on-demand licensing partner since 2007.”