Contentwave, the operator of online streaming service (OTT) Wavve, has appointed Lee Yang-gi, head of CJ ENM's (035760.KS) OTT Competitiveness Reinforcement Task Force, as its new CEO. Attention is now focused on whether the long-awaited merger between Tving and Wavve will gain momentum.
Contentwave said Tuesday that its board of directors selected Lee as the new CEO at a meeting held the previous day. Lee previously served as CJ ENM's business management head, chief financial officer of Tving, and CFO of Contentwave.
According to Contentwave, Lee played a leading role in enhancing the combined value of Wavve and Tving even before taking office. He drove major business achievements including supplying key CJ ENM content such as films and tvN dramas to Wavve, launching a Wavve-Tving bundled subscription and an ad-supported plan (AVOD), enabling mutual supply of original content between Wavve and Tving, and securing broadcasting rights for KLPGA and KPGA professional golf. Wavve and Tving have steadily signaled their merger intent by strengthening their strategic partnership. On March 17, the two platforms announced a cross-supply deal for their original content. Tving currently offers Wavve original variety show "Ideological Verification Zone: The Community," while Wavve streams Tving original series "Girls' High School Mystery Class" and tvN drama "Stranger," among others. Last year, the two rolled out bundled products such as the "Double Pass" (Tving + Wavve) and "3 Pack" (Tving + Wavve + Disney+), steadily building a cooperative model. "I will do my best to create synergies between Wavve and Tving, which are pursuing a merger, and deliver the best content experience to users," Lee said.
