Deal gives CJ ENM wider reach, Warner Bros. Discovery stronger Asia portfolio
CJ ENM's homegrown streaming platform Tving announced a full-scale expansion into 17 Asia-Pacific markets last week, through a strategic partnership with global media giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD).
Under the agreement, Tving will launch a dedicated branded section within WBD's streaming service HBO Max, available across regions including Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong by early next year.
Ahead of the official rollout, a set of pre-release titles -- including the highly anticipated thriller romance "Dear X" starring Kim Yoo-jung and Kim Young-dae -- will premiere in November in select territories.
Industry watchers see this move a "win-win" for both players.
"In Tving's case, with Netflix dominating the global market, it needed a partner to go international; and for HBO Max, to expand its market share in Asia, it inevitably has to rely on the strong demand for K-content," Jung Han, CEO of K EnterTech Hub and an adviser to KOCOWA, the overseas counterpart of Korean streaming platform Wavve, said.
Tving can leverage HBO Max's extensive distribution network across Asia to cut infrastructure costs and accelerate its entry into the global market, while HBO Max stands to gain by securing access to high-demand Korean content that carries strong regional influence. HBO Max is in the process of expanding its footprint in Asia, with launches in five countries last year, including Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the addition of 14 more Asia-Pacific markets on Oct. 15.
Mutual gains, shared growth
This collaboration also reflects a broader shift in the streaming landscape, with strategic ties between like-minded platforms emerging as key to survival and expansion.
Domestically, Tving is already preparing a merger with Wavve, a streaming service backed by Korea's major linear broadcasters. If finalized, the deal would create a single dominant platform housing most of Korea's top-rated dramas, reality shows and original content.
The merged entity could offer an unmatched volume and diversity of Korean content, positioning itself as a strong competitor not just within Asia's fast-growing streaming space, but also to global giants like Netflix.
"Just as Tving already features an Apple TV-branded section, this partnership model where compatible streaming platforms join forces to launch co-branded hubs has proven efficient in boosting both market reach and entry speed," said a CJ ENM spokesperson.
"K-content continues to enjoy strong popularity across Asia, and both Tving and CJ ENM have demonstrated high resonance with audiences in the region. Individual titles have performed well on their own, but through the dedicated Tving-branded hub, we expect even greater accessibility and engagement."
Han, however, cautioned that the partnership has its limits. Since HBO Max has yet to establish itself as a true global rival to Netflix, its alliance with Tving is likely to serve as a complementary partnership, rather than a deal that fundamentally reshapes the market.
"In the short run, it will help make the Tving brand more recognizable on the global stage, but in the long term, the challenge of achieving platform independence still remains. Building our own platform is essential. Otherwise, we'll have to continue relying on Netflix in the global market -- and even if we collaborate with Netflix, having our own platform makes a clear difference in terms of negotiation power and content utilization," Han said.
Testing global viability
Other experts see this as a litmus test for whether a standalone Korean streaming service can thrive globally.
"While the domestic platform Wavve attempted to break into the U.S. market [through KOCOWA brand], its limited success came from a weak lineup of original series," Yun Suk-jin, a cultural critic and professor of Korean language and literature at Chungnam National University, explained.
"In contrast, Tving's stronger portfolio of original content gives it a real opportunity to see whether a Korean platform can truly expand internationally, even if it's not yet at a level to compete head-on with Netflix."
He added that compared to Netflix, which leans heavily toward darker, more violent and provocative genres, Tving offers a richer catalog of romance and romantic comedy titles that resonate strongly with Asian audiences.
"Korean content and K-dramas reaching wider international audiences through Netflix is a good thing. But without [platform] ownership, that visibility risks being superficial. With Netflix's global streaming market share now exceeding 50 percent and its dominance expanding, Tving's strategic streaming partnership could serve as a meaningful counterbalance in today's media landscape."
The partnership also includes co-investment and co-production of Korean original series, setting the stage for globally distributed titles.
According to CJ ENM, this is the first phase of a broader international strategy. While the initial phase targets the Asia-Pacific region, the mid-to-long-term goal is to expand into North America and Europe, fueled by the success of jointly developed content.
"This partnership is both a launchpad for accelerating the worldwide spread of K-content and a catalyst for expanding the global K-culture fandom. Tving's international expansion will open new opportunities for Korean creators to reach global audiences and the original IP jointly developed by both companies will serve as a lasting growth engine for the global media industry," the CJ ENM official said.