Paid TV subscribers decline by 140,000 in six months

Cable and satellite TV hit hard, IPTV growth slows

2025-11-25 Hyein Shim

Logos of paid broadcasting service providers including IPTV (CG) (Source: Yonhap News)

The number of paid TV subscribers in South Korea, including Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), cable TV, and satellite TV, continues to decline steadily. Analysts attribute this trend to the rising popularity of online streaming services (OTT), which is accelerating the so-called “cord-cutting” phenomenon, where consumers cancel traditional paid TV subscriptions.

According to the “First Half of 2025 Paid Broadcasting Subscriber Numbers and Market Share” report released on the 24th by the Korea Communications Commission, the total number of paid TV subscribers in South Korea reached 36.23 million in the first half of this year, down 138,546 (0.38%) from 36.36 million in the second half of 2024. Paid TV subscriptions have been declining for three consecutive half-year periods since reaching a peak of 36.39 million in the second half of 2023.

The decline has been accelerating over the past three years. In the first half of 2024, subscriptions fell by 5,755, and in the second half by 19,964. This year, the first half saw a drop exceeding 100,000 for the first time. While the government initially reported a decline starting in the second half of 2023, subsequent data confirmed that the first major decrease occurred in the first half of 2025.

Subscriber numbers and changes over the past three years (Source: Yonhap News)

By service type, cable TV and satellite TV subscriptions have been steadily decreasing, while IPTV growth has slowed but continues to rise. As of the first half of 2025, IPTV had 21.41 million subscribers (59.11%), cable TV 12.09 million (33.38%), and satellite TV 2.72 million (7.51%). Compared with the second half of 2024, IPTV added 104,270 subscribers, whereas cable TV lost 182,044 and satellite TV 60,772.

By provider, KT IPTV had 9.03 million subscribers, KT Skylife satellite TV 2.72 million, SK Broadband IPTV 6.77 million and cable TV 2.79 million, and LG Uplus IPTV 5.62 million and LG HelloVision cable TV 3.44 million.

Paid TV subscriber data is collected by the Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT) through operational surveys by each provider and is reviewed and approved by the Korea Communications Commission’s expert committee before being published.