KT, South Korea’s second-biggest mobile carrier by subscribers, will invest big in content to seek growth beyond the platform business, its chief executive said Tuesday.

In a press conference held virtually, CEO Ku Hyun-mo said the telecom firm had taken its first major step in January already, setting up KT Studio Genie, which will serve as the control tower of all media and content related businesses within KT.

“Media platform is an important business for KT, which can bring tangible changes to our customers directly,” Ku said to the question of why KT is shifting its focus to content. “Content is a crucial pillar of the platform business, and we are sure we can generate profits from content, which will lead to improved corporate value.”

With KT Studio Genie taking the lead, KT aims to secure more than 1,000 intellectual properties and produce up to 100 original blockbuster dramas by 2023, he continued.

The new body will take control of the entire process of making investments in new content, producing and distributing them as well as generating additional copyright-related profits.

To make that investment, it has so far attracted around 8 billion won ($7.1 million) from investors, which is 80 percent of its initial target amount.

Ku did not reveal any estimation of its own investment volume in the content business, but hinted that it would not be less than what domestic rivals like SK Telecom. SKT-affiliated video streaming platform Wavve has previously announced a 300 billion-won investment plan.

To produce dramas that accurately target viewers, KT will tap into its big data of around 13 million media service subscribers. KT has been the No. 1 IPTV service provider in Korea since 2011. It is also in the process of acquiring cable TV channel HCN.

Artificial intelligence algorithms will be applied to analyze the user-base data and KT’s unique media big data, to set up a box office prediction model with 10 grades.

Newly produced content will be primarily distributed through KT Group’s real-time channel Sky TV and platforms Olleh TV and SkyLife. The content copyrights will later be sold in the secondary market through T-commerce company KTH and KT’s own streaming platform Seezn.

KT has also set a goal to make Sky TV one of the top three channels in the paid TV market.

“Internally, KT Studio Genie will play the role of connecting separate media businesses within KT Group, and externally, the studio will cooperate with independent content producers by sharing IPs, profits and platforms,” said Kim Chul-yeon, president of KT Studio Genie.

The studio will also continue its talks with global streaming providers like Disney+ on various forms of collaboration, said Kang Kook-hyun, president of customer business at KT.

Later in terms of governance, KT Studio Genie is expected to become an intermediate holding company that will oversee spinoff media companies under KT.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)