Days after Amazon moved to try and take a 30% share of advertising passing through free to air TV apps in Australia, South Korean Company LG has announced a move to become a media Company with an audience of over 200M consumers, the change in direction will challenge free to air TV companies in Australia claim observers.

In an announcement supplied to ChannelNews, LG Electronics claim to have taken their first step to become a media and entertainment platform company, with their own advertising division taking on free to air TV companies who recently engaged with the Labor Federal Government in an effort to force TV Companies such as LG to prioritise free to air TV apps for free, over other popular streaming apps.

The unlock key to their future in this market is their WebOS platform.

LG claim that they intend to deliver content, including their own “curated” content as well as sell advertising to brands retailers and distributors.

“LG is poised to transform into a media and entertainment platform company that delivers distinctive content and services that will enhance the lives of its customers,” said Park Hyoung-sei, president of the LG Home Entertainment Company.

“This transformation would not have been possible without LG’s decade of OLED TV leadership and the technological innovation of the webOS smart TV platform.”

The new direction was revealed at a major webOS Partner Summit held in Seoul, South Korea earlier today, that was attended by content producers, streaming Companies, developers, and TV industry figures from over 30 countries.

The audience was presented with PowerPoint presentations that revealed that LG is able to deliver access to over 300 million webOS-powered devices with access broken down to both individual Countries and in Australia the States that WebOS devices are being used in.

LG management claim that since its launch on LG Smart TVs in 2014, webOS has been one of the most widely used smart TV platforms in the world with over 200 million TV sets alone connected to their global network.

LG is also holding data on individual owners of an LG powered WebOS device in particular their TV’s.

Currently webOS also supports several third-party TV brands including in Australia, Bauhn, Akai Sharp and Polaroid TV’s.

LG also plans to extend webOS to more third-party TV companies and expand the platform to other product categories.

Later this year LG is expanding their WebOS marketing service to projectors, digital signage, and in-vehicle infotainment systems which in the future they will deliver paid for content to.

Since COVID LG Electronics has grown their WebOS footprint from 20 two years ago to over 300 today. During that time, webOS Hub has undergone several major upgrades with the introduction of several different marketing and content offers.

At CES 2024 in Las Vegas the Company is set to have a team of executives offering advertising services to brands that in the past have used free to air TV stations to reach an audience.

With LG services brands can reach consumers watching streaming services and free to air apps.

LG are also going after the cloud gaming and OTT services market, with new features tipped to be announced at CES 2024 that they claim will enhance the overall user experience for advertisers.

Recently several TV brands, introduced their own OLED TVs powered by webOS Hub with their panels also sourced from LG.

As part of its strategy to expand the webOS platform ecosystem, LG acquired the US advertising and content data analysis specialist, Alphonso, in 2021.

 

Alphonso is currently establishing subsidiaries in various Countries.

LG management claim that they are set to make a substantial investment of over US$300M in its webOS business over the next five years in order to provide more content and services that cater to the diverse lifestyles and preferences of consumers.

By boosting its competitiveness in content and services, LG believes it will further elevate the webOS user experience.

LG’s strategic investment will be focused on broadening the range of content available via the webOS platform, boosting usability by innovating the UI and UX, and strengthening partnerships with content production companies on a global scale.

Management heading the WebOS division at LG Electronics claim that they are currently working with partners to bring new technologies to the platform for gamers, sports fans or Gen Z users.

An example is the integration of Sye, a Prime Video proprietary, which provides a low latency technology that will benefit LG customers who are fans of live-streaming sports.

LG is also strengthening innovation in the area of AI-based search and recommendations.

The company plans to incorporate a voice user interface (VUI) feature into partner companies’ apps, which will let webOS users easily control and navigate third-party content services with their voice and enable swift and seamless content discovery.

The Company is also set to deliver a selection of TV series and a revamped UI that allows users to view more content options, including live channels and movies, on the screen, reducing the need to scroll.

The new UI will allow users to easily explore what’s on other channels without having to pause or navigate away from what they’re watching.

Available in 27 countries worldwide including Australia, LG Channels currently offers over 3,000 channels and has over 50 million subscribers as of March 2023.

Last year the number of unique devices on which LG Channels was used increased by 75 percent, while viewing time rose by 57 percent and usage frequency surged to make the service one of the top-five most-accessed apps on the webOS platform.

LG is also actively investing in its smart TV platform development capabilities by partnering with academic institutions in South Korea to nurture the next generation of software talent, and by reinforcing its efforts to secure top-notch software professionals all around the globe.