Industry

At this year’s KFAST New York, held from 12 to 14 November, Maria Rúa Aguete, Head of Media & Entertainment at Omdia, delivered one of the event’s most anticipated presentations, offering a clear and engaging snapshot of how the United States continues to shape the global media economy—and why Korean content is emerging as a natural force within the booming FAST ecosystem.

Rúa Aguete opened her talk by reaffirming the unshakable centrality of the U.S. market. With revenues reaching 430 billion dollars out of a 1.1 trillion global total, the United States alone generates 39% of the entire media and entertainment industry. Its influence extends across every major segment: more than half of global SVOD revenues originate there, and the country also commands an overwhelming share of FAST revenues and connected TV advertising. In short, the American market remains the gravitational center around which global streaming, advertising, and content consumption continue to orbit.

Against this backdrop, Korean content has undergone a transformation from a regional success story to a global cultural phenomenon. Korean titles regularly enter Netflix’s most-watched charts, capturing audiences with their distinctive storytelling, high production values and emotional resonance. What was once considered niche has become a defining trend in global content consumption, with Korean series and entertainment formats now attracting viewers across continents.

It is at the intersection of these two forces—the dominance of the U.S. market and the worldwide rise of Korean content—that Rúa Aguete sees one of the most promising opportunities in today’s entertainment landscape. During her keynote, she underlined how the expansion of free ad-supported streaming television in the United States creates fertile ground for the growth of Korean FAST channels. The combination of an enormous advertising-driven ecosystem and a steady stream of high-engagement Korean content, she argued, represents a strategic match with exceptional commercial potential.

“The U.S. is the largest FAST market in the world, and Korean content is the most in-demand non-English content globally. Combining them is not just smart; it’s a multi-billion-dollar opportunity,” she said, adding that platforms are increasingly seeking premium catalogues capable of sustaining high levels of viewer engagement. In her view, Korean FAST channels are ideally positioned to thrive, thanks to their global appeal and the momentum they have already built on major streaming platforms.