Both terrestrial and satellite-based digital multimedia broadcasting services are finally set to launch commercially over the next few months in South Korea -- "According to research from international intelligence research firm ABI Research, the strife between competing stakeholders will only continue once services launch. More than a year later than expected, Korea's TU Media will launch its satellite-based commercial DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) services in May, while the following month, terrestrial DMB services will also launch, led by the country's major cable news, radio, and television broadcasters. ABI Research does expect the total number of terrestrial DMB subscribers to be significantly higher than satellite DMB subscribers, as terrestrial-based services will be free and feature better programming. However, it will be challenging for terrestrial DMB broadcasters to come up with successful revenue models, so they have been petitioning the government to be allowed to charge subscription fees."
The global streaming industry has spent the better part of a decade chasing subscriber counts as the primary metric of success. That era is now formally over. New market data from Omdia confirms that the industry has crossed a decisive threshold; one that shifts the competitive playing field from growth-at-all-costs to monetization discipline. For senior executives navigating media, advertising, and technology strategy, the implications extend well beyond entertainment. A Historic Revenue Crossover Online video revenue increased 13.5 percent to $176 billion in 2025, while pay-TV revenue declined 4 percent to $170 billion; marking the first time in the industry's history that streaming has surpassed legacy pay-TV in revenue terms. This is not a rounding error or a statistical artifact; it represents the culmination of more than a decade of structural disruption to the traditional broadcast and cable TV model. Global subscriptions to online video services reached 2.24 billion by the ...