AfreecaTV is a P2P technology-based video streaming service. It is now owned and operated by AfreecaTV Co., Ltd. in South Korea after Nowcom's AfreecaTV Co., Ltd and ZettaMedia split in 2011. As of July, 2019 AfreecaTV was listed the 4th in the "Asia's 200 Best Under A Billion" list by Forbes.
History
AfreecaTV initially started as a W beta service on May 11, 2005 and was officially named "AFREECA” on March 9, 2006. The site mainly re-transmits TV channels, but also allows users to upload their own videos and shows. Functions such as broadcasting, viewing, channel listing, live chatting, and discussion boards are provided. Users are required to install 'Afreeca Player' for grid delivery. Independent broadcasters called Broadcasting Jockeys deliver live broadcasts to viewers, who can add them to their list of favorite channels using an Afreeca Player tool. Some channels have tens of thousands of viewers at any given time. Paid services such as quick views or channel relays allow BJs additional sources of revenue. The platform itself ranges anywhere from TV broadcasts, live video game broadcasts, taxi driver monitoring, artist performances, and personal daily-life video blogs and shows for actresses and professional broadcasters. The head of Afreeca's parent company Nowcom, Mun Yong-sik, was arrested in 2008 for illegally distributing copyrighted films. Some alleged the arrest was politically motivated due to Afreeca being used by protesters to coordinate. On September 27, 2012, afreecaTV English was released on the Google Play store. One example of expansion of Afreeca's role is the hosting of a live talk session with Mayor Park of Seoul, broadcast live online and via mobile on AfreecaTV. He used the platform as a way to conduct a community scanning forum to collect public opinions and allow bloggers with various areas of expertise to participate in the dialogue. The bloggers were able to address the problems facing Seoul and propose solutions in their areas of expertise, while also exchanging ideas with Mayor Park in an in-depth discussion on the administration of the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Depending on rising of power of AfreecaTV, many Idol Groups participate in AfreecaTV for their fans, for example, Nine Muses.
Controversy
There have been many social problems with Afreeca TV such as offers for sexual favors and abasement of disabled individuals. Many broadcasters were involved in these incidents, and they were punished by managers of Afreeca TV by suspension of their IDs. Due to such problems, mass media in South Korea have shown concern about the effects of personal broadcasting platforms. A claim was made that audience overloading has caused overpayment of fees for Internet broadcasting. In light of this, Korea's Clean Internet Broadcasting Council came to an agreement with Afreeca TV to reduce the payment maximum to less than 1 million won per day by June 2008.
Esports
Afreeca picked up the SBENUStarCraft II team on January 23, 2016 and participated in Proleague. On November 21, 2016, it was announced that the team was disbanding its StarCraft II division, though it kept involvement in Starcraft up. They currently sponsor a professional League of Legends team, Afreeca Freecs. The Starcraft 2 team was reformed at the start of 2020. Afreeca also announced on January 23, 2016 that they would be sponsoring two seasons of Brood War tournaments. AfreecaTV is constantly playing Starcraft. It is now in its eighth season as of August 2019.
