[OTT Platforms. Photo Credit to Pixabay]

OTT platforms have broken down the boundaries of global content, but they are also creating new national and cultural inequalities driven by profitability.

Recently, I worked on a project introducing movies from various countries.

To discover new films, I searched for content from Africa and Southeast Asia on Netflix.

Korean, Japanese, American, and British movies were constantly recommended, but I could not find much content from Africa or Southeast Asia. 

After several searches using different keywords, I was able to find content from other countries. However, the recommendation section still featured content primarily from familiar countries. 

Of course, this experience alone cannot conclude that OTT platforms deliberately exclude the content of a specific country.

This is because the recommendation algorithms are influenced by various factors such as the user's viewing record, language setting, and residence area. 

However, this raises a question: does the OTT platform expose all content equally, even though it has a variety of content?

Starting with Covid-19, OTT platforms became content consumption channels that people found often more than theater or public broadcasting.

Beyond movies and drama, especially, Netflix expands viewers while offering up to live concerts or music content (For example, the BTS live concert).

Works that were consumed only in certain countries in the past can now be delivered to viewers around the world.

In fact, OTT platforms have played a major role in expanding the diversity of content.

Movies and dramas from countries where it was previously difficult to enter overseas markets can also be introduced to global viewers, and access to different cultures has also increased. 

This is an important positive change created by OTT platforms.

Recently, however, the OTT industry's investment method has raised new questions.

Platform companies mainly invest in countries and genres where they can expect high profit based on vast viewing data and market analysis.

This is a strategically reasonable decision from the perspective of a company, as the more viewers invest in content they are looking for, the higher their profits can be.

The more viewers invest in content they are looking for, the higher their profits can be.

The problem, however, is that this investment structure can create a new form of imbalance.

Countries with smaller markets or limited linguistic influence are at risk of being pushed down the investment priority list.

It is not because their contents are low-quality, but the size of market, profitability and global consumption patterns are important standards for investment decisions.

Finally, although it seems that global viewers are exposed to various countries’ contents, they can actually only consume content centered on certain countries chosen by the platforms. 

Korea's K-Pop Demon Hunters, which gained global fame, is an appropriate example. 

This work is not a Korean film, but rather a Netflix animated film that draws inspiration from K-pop and Korean culture.

This movie was created and distributed as a Netflix original without a formal theatrical release. 

Even though the movie became popular worldwide, its OST reached number one on the Billboard chart.

It shows the significant impact that the strong influence and strategic investments of OTT platforms can have on the global spread of content.

At the same time, it also proves how powerful cultural influence can be generated when platforms invest heavily in certain countries or types of content.

Of course, the OTT platform's intensive investment strategy itself cannot be viewed negatively.

New content production is possible only when profitability is secured, and in fact, OTT platforms have played a role in introducing more works from countries to the global market than in the past.

Without OTT, the content of some countries would not have even had the opportunity to be known to overseas viewers.

Nevertheless, the diversity of content does not solely depend on whether or not it is available. 

What works are recommended, promoted, and invested in are also important factors in diversity.

It is clear that OTT platforms have contributed to expanding cultural diversity, but at the same time, it is necessary to continue to examine whether they are creating a new imbalance that focuses on specific countries and content.