KT Skylife has nominated Jo Il (조일), executive vice president in charge of management planning and CFO, as its new chief executive. After he is appointed an inside director at a shareholders meeting on March 26, he will take the CEO post at a subsequent board meeting.

On the business side, Jo is tasked with strengthening growth drivers through its internet-based TV service ipit TV and delivering results after investing in Pochak, an AI sports broadcasting company formerly known as Hogak.

ipit TV was launched in July last year by using a technology-neutrality framework that allows satellite broadcasters to provide TV services over internet networks. Viewers can watch Skylife channels using a KT internet line and a set-top box without a satellite antenna. ipit TV surpassed 124,000 cumulative active subscribers within six months of its launch. The combined subscriber base of satellite broadcasting and ipit TV also posted a net increase, as ipit TV alone added 71,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter.

The performance also affected KT Skylife's annual results. KT Skylife posted annual operating profit of 23.0 billion won on a consolidated basis in 2025, swinging to a profit from an operating loss of 1.1 billion won a year earlier. Revenue fell 3.8 percent from a year earlier to 984.2 billion won. In the fourth quarter alone, it recorded an operating loss of 11.5 billion won, which it attributed to a focus on set-top box supply and marketing to secure subscribers in the early stage of the ipit TV business.

In a fourth-quarter conference call, Jo said, "In the early stage of collecting subscribers explosively, there will be a temporary burden of upfront investment."

Jo led the investment in Pochak during his time as CFO.

Pochak holds exclusive domestic sales rights for the AI camera system of Pixellot, an Israeli AI sports broadcasting solution company. KT Skylife invested 6.8 billion won in the company in July 2024 to secure a 23.8 percent stake. Its subsidiary HCN added 3.0 billion won, bringing the combined investment to about 10.0 billion won.

At the time, the company created an AI sports team under Jo, with a goal of securing 320,000 subscribers within five years. It later signed a series of business agreements with the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and the Gangneung City Sports Council, among others. It highlighted that using AI unmanned cameras can cut broadcasting costs by more than 90 percent compared with existing methods.

However, for nearly two years since the investment, earnings indicators such as subscriber numbers, subscription revenue and the number of equipment installation contracts have not been disclosed. It has disclosed only pilot-style broadcast events such as the 2024 Seoul Homeless World Cup, the 2025 National Sports for All Festival and the Hwarang Daegi youth soccer tournament.

Some in the industry have said that a significant portion of the funds KT Skylife invested in Pochak has been depleted, making losses unavoidable. Attention is focusing on what steps Jo will take regarding Pochak after taking office. KT Skylife said, "The Pochak service is continuing various partnerships and cooperation with local governments and professional teams."