“Getting criticized even after giving” Despite the success of “Marry My Husband”, the bonus is only 200,000 won?

With consecutive hits such as the recent drama “Marry My Husband” and coverage of the Asian Cup, leading to an increase in viewership ratings and the number of users on its TVING platform. Consequently, additional performance bonuses were allocated to the Media Platform Channel Business Department, which is being credited for its remarkable achievements, causing dissatisfaction among some employees who feel they deserve more.

According to industry officials on Feb 14th, on Feb 8th preceding the Lunar New Year holidays, the Media Platform Channel Business Department of CJ ENM held a town hall meeting to review its performance.

During the meeting, the department’s achievements, including the increase in average viewership ratings in January, were shared. It was also revealed that all Channel Business Department employees (about 200 people) were given gift vouchers worth 200,000 won each.

Amidst CJ ENM’s financial struggles, the department managed to record an operating profit of 2.3 billion won in the fourth quarter of last year, preserving the company’s dignity. While the additional performance bonuses were allocated only to the Channel Business Department beyond the existing ones, some have criticized it as being overly generous considering the circumstances of CJ ENM’s crisis.

A, an employee working in the Channel Business Department, commented, “We know the company is going through a difficult time, but there was a feeling internally that ‘wouldn’t it have been better for morale if they had given cash instead of vouchers?’“

Indeed, there was reportedly a festive atmosphere within CJ ENM at that time. CJ ENM outperformed SBS in average viewership ratings in January, which was deemed unprecedented internally.

The Media Platform Division has been the protagonist of significant achievements since the fourth quarter, including the success of dramas like “A Bloody Lucky Day” and “Death’s Game”, recording sales of 327.1 billion won and an operating profit of 2.3 billion won in the fourth quarter. TVING, which demonstrated an expansion of paid subscribers and strong sales of overseas content, also contributed to consecutive profits in the third and fourth quarters.

The momentum of success in the fourth quarter has continued into the first quarter of this year. The drama “Marry My Husband” achieved a “mega-hit” status upon its release in January, garnering international popularity by ranking first on Amazon Prime.

With the synergy of drama success and Asian Cup coverage, both Channel and TVING saw explosive growth in user numbers. On the day “Marry My Husband” premiered on Jan 1st, there were about 1.4 million users per day. A month later, on Feb 6th, the number rose to about 2.02 million users per day.

This translates to an increase of about 600,000 users per day within a month, attributed to the success of “Marry My Husband” and the Asian Cup coverage.

With the success of the Media Platform Division in the first quarter, there are expectations that CJ ENM’s crisis, which recorded a deficit of 14.6 billion won last year, will be swiftly addressed.

Although the company recorded a total deficit of 80.7 billion won in the first and second quarters of last year, it rebounded from the third quarter onwards, reducing its annual deficit. The Media Platform Division played its part in this turnaround, transitioning to profitability from the third quarter onwards.

Interest is growing as to whether the vitality of the Media Platform Division in the first quarter of this year will translate into an improvement in CJ ENM’s performance.

Source: Nate