Kakao TV, a pioneer of individual broadcasting in South Korea, will terminate its service at the end of June.
The platform announced on May 5 that "due to rapid changes in the content market and shifts in the operating environment, we have made the difficult decision to end our service on June 30, 2026." Kakao TV is Kakao's video platform, created in 2017 through a merger with Daum's video platform "Daum tv Pot."
Under this decision, Kakao TV will halt new channel creation and video-on-demand uploads starting June 1, with final service termination on June 30. Users can begin backing up their videos from 2 p.m. on May 9.
The shutdown decision reflects YouTube's dominant grip on video content consumption in South Korea. Kakao TV gained prominence through "My Little Television," a popular MBC program, but lost ground to YouTube's rapid growth, SOOP (formerly AfreecaTV) with its established user base, and Naver's newer streaming platform "Chzzk."
Kakao TV has been winding down operations gradually—ending its mobile app in February 2024, removing VOD comment features in July 2024, and discontinuing live chat functions in August last year.
"While our service is coming to an end, we will remain committed to minimizing user inconvenience until the very last day," the company said.