Wavve launches 'Deutpom,' OTT industry's first audio mode service

Wavve announced Friday the launch of "Deutpom," the first audio mode service among domestic OTT platforms, allowing users to enjoy video content by listening. The service lets users listen to drama series, variety shows, news and educational content without a screen, while also offering audio-only content.

Deutpom is designed to enhance the audio experience for moments when looking at a screen is difficult — commuting, working, sleeping or caring for children. Wavve said it plans to use the service to establish itself as a "platform for everyday life" that users naturally turn to each day.

To improve accessibility, Wavve placed an audio mode button at the front of the player, letting users switch easily between video and audio.

Switching to audio mode brings up a simplified interface, and playback continues even when the phone is in a pocket or the screen is locked. Usability features include a resume function that picks up where the user last left off and a sleep timer that automatically stops playback after a set time.

Audio mode is available for drama series and variety shows with audio description — including Wavve originals "Park Ha-kyung's Travel Log" and the "Blood Game" series — as well as a range of other content such as "Late Night Ghost Story," "History Journal: That Day," "Naked World History" and "Lecture Battle Show: Con Artists." Children's content featuring nursery rhymes and fairy tales, broadcast music programs and terrestrial live channels are also available.

In addition, Wavve is launching a dedicated Deutpom special section where users can browse audio-only and audio-optimized content in one place. Language learning content in English, Japanese and Chinese, along with audiobooks featuring voice actors reading classic literature, will be added to the section on a rolling basis.

YouTube content has also been added to the lineup, including "Strange Night," which covers mysteries, ghost stories and unsolved cases, and "Yu Seong-ho's Demantalk" by forensic scientist and professor Yu Seong-ho.

The Deutpom launch is part of a series of recent service updates through which Wavve has been expanding its touchpoints with users. These include "Weekly Band," which lets users check daily updates of drama series and variety shows and earn coin rewards; a "LIVE Home" section on the TV app that aggregates real-time channels; and media commerce features. The central goal of these updates is to make Wavve a platform users open every day and spend the most time on.

"Beyond watching dramas and films, we want to offer users a natural way to enjoy Wavve during the many everyday moments when their eyes need a rest — from the commute to just before falling asleep," a Wavve official said. "We aim to become a daily platform that fills every hour of our users' day."

The service will be available first on mobile devices and tablets, which account for the most on-the-go usage.