CJ ENM’s online video service (OTT) Tving returned to profit in the second quarter this year.

A CJ ENM second-quarter earnings conference call on Aug. 6 showed Tving’s second-quarter revenue rose 40 percent from a year earlier to 140.7 billion won. Operating results swung to a 6.0 billion won profit from a 24.0 billion won loss in the second quarter last year.

CJ ENM explained that subscription and advertising revenue grew together as subscribers and monthly active users (MAU) increased, driven by performance in the KBO season and the popularity of original content such as "Becoming a Legend of the Military Cook" and "Yumi's Cells 3".

It forecast third-quarter results to be somewhat weaker than the second quarter due to a seasonal lull in advertising, rising content procurement costs and a decline in overseas sales.

CJ ENM said Tving’s profitability is improving in trend terms over the long run as subscription and advertising revenue scale up.

In the second half, it plans to continue expanding subscribers and viewing volume based on original dramas and major entertainment content, while increasing advertising revenue by leveraging the KBO postseason and the peak advertising season in the fourth quarter.

It will also continue merger talks between Tving and Wavve. CJ ENM said it is discussing various cooperation with KT, including in advertising and content, and based on that it plans to proceed with full-scale discussions on a Tving-Wavve merger in the second half. It also plans to continue talks related to a strategic investor (SI) in connection with discussions with KT.

It also mentioned possible financial impacts from a recent personal data leak. Jang Hyun-kyung (장현경), CJ ENM’s chief financial officer, said, "Financially impactful elements could include customer compensation measures and penalty surcharges and administrative fines," adding, "We are preparing compensation measures internally and plan to disclose them around September to October."

She added, "We are reviewing it in a direction that provides as much value as possible to customers while controlling the impact on profit and loss as much as possible," and said, "Penalty surcharges and administrative fines will be decided after the Personal Information Protection Commission’s investigation ends."

It dismissed a link between a recent decline in Tving’s MAU and the data leak. CJ ENM said users increased from April, after the KBO season opened, and the uptrend continued through June on the back of the popularity of original content in May, but it believes MAU fell after some content ended.

CJ ENM said it has not currently confirmed figures that would allow it to judge that the personal data leak issue led to the MAU decline.