Coupang Play slips to No. 3 as 200,000 users flee, launches ad-free premium tier

Coupang Play has fallen from second to third place in South Korea's streaming market.

The drop is a painful result given the platform's sweeping content diversification push last month. Coupang Play had expanded its lineup around its flagship original variety show SNL Korea and secured exclusive ticket presales for a BIGBANG concert, yet still failed to stem user losses.

In response, the platform quietly launched an ad-free premium subscription tier earlier this month, signaling a push to build a more sustainable revenue base.

According to market research firm Mobile Index, Coupang Play's monthly active users in June stood at about 8.85 million — a 2.9 percent drop from the previous month — pushing it from second to third place. Compared with April, when it surpassed 9 million MAU for the first time, the platform shed roughly 200,000 users.

Tving claimed second place with about 9.04 million MAU. Industry observers say the platform has held its user base steady on the strength of the KBO professional baseball season, despite a personal data breach.

The result stings given Coupang Play's active content diversification efforts last month.

The platform sold tickets exclusively through its app for BIGBANG's 20th-anniversary world tour concert in South Korea. Fan club presales opened June 24, followed by general sales June 25. The fan club presale was limited to Wow members who had joined the BIGBANG V.I.P. Official Membership.

Industry observers say Coupang Play is expanding its platform reach beyond sports broadcasting and original content into event retail — a strategy to grow MAU by leveraging K-pop artists' concert schedules.

The platform also broadened its content lineup. It added Manchester City and Atletico Madrid as participating clubs in its own sports festival, the Coupang Play Series. It also scheduled a solo variety show featuring K-pop artist Wonhee, titled "Wonhee Is Twenty," and a documentary following the South Korean national football team's World Cup journey titled "Gukdae: Road to North America."

Despite those diversification efforts, Coupang Play surrendered second place to Tving — a rival hit by an unprecedented setback — making the outcome all the more painful.

Against that backdrop, Coupang Play drew industry attention by quietly launching an ad-free premium tier. On Friday, the platform rolled out "Premium Pass" for Wow members without prior notice — a paid service that lets subscribers watch content without advertisements. It costs 3,900 won per month on the web and 4,500 won per month on mobile.

Coupang Play said it plans to expand user choice by running both an ad-supported free service and the new ad-free paid option side by side. Last year, the company introduced a free, ad-supported tier for general users and also applied advertising to some paid content, including Wow membership and Sports Pass tiers.

Industry observers say the Premium Pass launch marks Coupang Play's move to build a serious revenue foundation.

Meanwhile, Netflix recorded about 16.17 million MAU last month — surpassing 16 million for the first time — to hold first place. Wavve ranked fourth with about 3.97 million MAU, and Disney+ fifth with about 3.13 million.