South Korea’s paid TV market is rife with M&A activities through marriages of wireless carriers and cable channel operators after LG Uplus scaled up by joining up with CJ Hello.

SK Telecom is in talks with Taekwang Group to combine their respective paid television subsidiaries - SK Broadband and T-broad. The two agreed to continue talks after signing a memorandum of understanding over a possible merger, according to sources on Monday.

The leading wireless carrier’s move comes after LG Uplus held a board meeting last Thursday to okay its acquisition of 50 percent plus one share in CJ Hello from CJ ENM, the owner with a 53.92 percent stake. The deal, which is scheduled to go through an antitrust review, would put LG Uplus in second position behind the KT and KT Skylife group, which leads the country’s paid TV industry with a 30.86 percent share. LG Uplus and CJ Hello pitted against each other until recently in the sector with a market share of 11.41 percent and 13.02 percent, respectively.

A possible combination of SK Broadband, the second largest IPTV provider with a market share of 13.97 percent, and T-broad, the second largest cable TV business (9.86 percent), would put SK in second right behind the LG Uplus-CJ Hello alliance (24.43 percent) with a 23.83 percent market share.

KT is also said to be reviewing a plan to acquire D’Live (formerly C&M), the country’s third largest cable TV brand, through its satellite TV unit KT Skylife. The marriage with D’Live (6.45 percent) would increase KT Skylife’s market share to 37.31 percent, further widening the gap with second and third-place rivals.

By Lee Yong-ik and Minu Kim

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]