Dlive is accelerating its push into business-to-business (B2B) deals and the advertising market on the back of rising traffic for its ad-supported free streaming TV (FAST) service DIVA.

Dlive said on Thursday that DIVA's traffic and ad exposure rose 70-fold and 16-fold, respectively, from May last year.

Dlive cited stronger content competitiveness and improved convenience as key growth drivers. It added the YTN channel to DIVA in October last year. In April, it applied an "auto-launch DIVA" feature to improve user access to the platform.

Dlive plans to expand B2B partnerships across areas such as in-vehicle infotainment, TVs manufactured by small and medium-sized companies and accommodation venues to scale up the DIVA platform. It aims to secure advertisers through an integrated advertising platform and increase advertising profitability.

It will reinvest advertising revenue to expand content. DIVA currently offers 21 channels, including local content, news, films, web dramas, animation, kids, culture and arts, creators, documentaries, games and more. Dlive plans to expand the channel lineup to at least 50.

Dlive has increased its channel count centered on locally focused content since launching its FAST service in 2023. In 2024, it renamed the service DIVA and worked with FAST service and solutions company New ID to target the connected TV (CTV) market. Last year, it embedded DIVA in products from domestic mid-sized TV maker Prism Korea to expand its potential viewer base.

Dlive has sold about 570,000 units of its own OTT device, the "Dlive OTT" set-top box, which includes DIVA. It also embedded DIVA in about 10,000 units of in-vehicle infotainment systems.

A Dlive official said, "Over the past three years, combining content investment with scale expansion to strengthen DIVA's competitiveness is bearing fruit." The official added, "Based on the strengths and flexibility of an integrated advertising platform, we will grow into a platform that satisfies both viewers and advertisers."