While U.S. Giants Play Defense, SBS Goes on Offense

While U.S. Giants Play Defense,

SBS Goes on Offense

In a $95B Market Shakeup, Korea's Top Broadcaster Isn't Waiting—It's Leading

The U.S. TV advertising market is in flux. Linear TV is declining; CTV is surging.

At CES 2026, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal, and Paramount unveiled AI-powered strategies to defend their turf. But while American giants are optimizing, adapting, and pivoting, one broadcaster from Korea is doing something different: opening an entirely new front.

SBS—Korea's leading content exporter, whose dramas dominate both domestic ratings and Netflix's global charts—has just signed a historic partnership with Sinclair to launch the first-ever Korean terrestrial channel on U.S. airwaves. Free. Over-the-air. No subscription required. While others are fighting for slices of a shifting pie, SBS is baking a new one.

The $95 Billion Battlefield: CTV vs. Linear TV

Emarketer's latest projections reveal the scale of transformation. In 2027, the combined U.S. TV advertising market will total approximately $95.6 billion—but the composition is shifting dramatically.

Linear TV advertising peaked at $67 billion in 2022 and is projected to fall to $54.7 billion by 2027—an 18% decline.

CTV advertising is racing in the opposite direction: from $17.3 billion in 2021 to $40.9 billion in 2027, a 136% surge. Extend the trend lines, and the crossover comes around 2029-2030.

For legacy media, this is an existential challenge. For SBS, it's an opportunity.

■ U.S. TV Advertising Market Forecast (in $ billions)

The Defense: How U.S. Giants Are Adapting

At CES 2026, America's media giants unveiled sophisticated strategies to navigate the transition. The playbook is clear: leverage AI for efficiency, unify data for precision targeting, and create new ad formats. It's smart. It's necessary. And it's fundamentally defensive.

Disney: 'Responsibility First' AI and the Shift to 'Moments'

"We sit at the crossroad of storytelling and technology," said Adam Monaco, Disney's EVP of Sales. "That's our Disney difference." Disney's AI approach emphasizes responsible deployment—powering planning, activation, and real-time campaign optimization. RFP turnaround has shrunk from weeks to hours.

"2026 is going to be about the shift from personalization to moments. It's not just about targeting who you are, but targeting what's happening around you. Live sports and live entertainment provide that stage to create impactful moments."

The new ESPN app offers fully personalized experiences—multi-game viewing, fantasy tracking, DraftKings betting integration. ESPN delivered 33% of all U.S. sports impressions in 2025. Disney's streaming strategy pursues "TV reach with addressable precision," while the Hulu hosted model and shoppable pause ads bring mobile commerce to the big screen.

Warner Bros. Discovery: 'Right Ads to Right People'—Not AI Creative

"We're approaching the end of early innings with AI," said Ryan Gould, WBD's President of US Go-to-Market Ad Sales. "But you have to be very disciplined. If you apply AI as an added layer, it can actually introduce additional complexities."

Gould's AI philosophy is notably cautious on creative applications: "I'm less excited about AI augmenting creative and content. I'm more excited about AI showing the right ads to the right people in the right context at the right time. The human touch of creative is going to be relevant for the long term."

"Frankly speaking, I think we have too much data at our fingertips. As an industry, we need to do a better job of honing in on the right data—data that drives value for advertisers and consumers."

WBD is focusing on supply path optimization—cleaning up programmatic pipes to ensure direct access to premium experiences. Trust-building requires "predictability and transparency" in an environment of volatile streaming prices and changing ad loads. Multi-year deals with VideoAmp and Nielsen have increased targetable IDs by 3.2x.

NBCU and Paramount: Live Events and Open Web Extension

NBCUniversal's 'Live Total Impact' enables cross-platform retargeting of live event viewers—beta testing showed 6.8x higher website visits. AI contextual targeting on Peacock drove 68% higher ad recall. Google and LA28 partnerships will bring AI enhancements to the 2028 Olympics.

Paramount's 'Performance Multiplier' extends CTV ads to 9,000+ open web publishers through Taboola, while 'Streaming Fixed Unit' creates appointment-viewing dynamics for new streaming releases.

■ U.S. Legacy Media: Defensive Innovations (CES 2026)

The Offense: SBS Opens a New Front

While U.S. media companies optimize existing business models, SBS is creating new ones. The Korean broadcaster isn't fighting for market share in a declining linear TV market or competing for streaming subscribers against Netflix and Disney+. It's building something different: free, over-the-air K-content distribution to American living rooms.

Why SBS? Korea's Content Powerhouse

SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System) is one of Korea's three major terrestrial broadcasters, founded in 1991. The company produces dramas, entertainment shows, news, and sports broadcasts reaching millions of Korean households.

But SBS's real distinction is global: its productions consistently dominate both Korean primetime ratings and Netflix's global charts simultaneously.

This 'dual success model'—winning at home while conquering abroad—sets SBS apart. The company doesn't produce separate content for different markets; it creates universally resonant storytelling that travels across cultures. In 2025, SBS achieved profitability by transforming from an 'advertising-dependent platform company' to an 'IP business-based content company.'

The Historic Move: SBS-Sinclair Partnership

On January 8, 2026, SBS and Sinclair Broadcast Group signed an MOU to launch an ATSC 3.0-based K-Content Channel. Sinclair operates 185 television stations reaching 40% of American households. The partnership marks the first time Korean terrestrial content will air on U.S. terrestrial television.

In response to the rise of streaming, SBS has shifted from prioritizing domestic Streaming service Wavve exclusivity to a more open, global distribution strategy, highlighted by a six‑year worldwide deal with Netflix signed in December 2024 that moves most key SBS titles off Wavve and onto Netflix, including legacy brands such as “Running Man” and major dramas.

At the same time, SBS is pushing digital‑native formats: its flagship online news brand SUBUSUNEWS, produced by Studio161, targets audiences in their 20s and 30s with YouTube‑style explainers and, as of January 2026, has become the first Korean broadcast new‑media news brand to launch a dedicated slate on Netflix with series like “Bad Guys Around the World,” “Moabats,” and “SUBUSUNEWS Daily,” signaling that SBS now sees factual and knowledge programming—not just scripted shows—as exportable streaming content.

Why this matters: While Disney charges $15.99/month for Disney+ and Netflix charges $22.99/month for Premium, SBS content will be available for free. While U.S. media companies fight over 4.5 streaming subscriptions per household, SBS is reaching everyone with an antenna. That's not competition. That's category creation.

The strategic logic:

Subscription fatigue: American households spend $61+/month on streaming. Many are cutting back. Free K-content expands the addressable market from 'paying subscribers' to 'everyone.'

Distribution diversification: Netflix enabled K-content's global rise, but platform dependence is risky. SBS is building a parallel distribution channel—not replacing Netflix, but complementing it.

ATSC 3.0 advantages: The next-gen broadcast standard enables 4K/HDR, interactivity, and targeted advertising. SBS gets the same precision tools that Disney and WBD are deploying—on free terrestrial TV.

CEO Moonshin Bang: 'AI-First Content Leader'

SBS isn't just expanding distribution—it's transforming operations. In his 2026 New Year's address, CEO Moonshin Bang declared 'AI-First Content Leader' as the company's management keynote.

"AI transformation and content competitiveness—these two will be this year's key battlegrounds. As the content industry's value chain is being reorganized around AI, we will establish 'AI First' by internalizing AI across all content areas. This is the strategy for creating 'an SBS that properly survives in 10 years.'"

The four-pillar strategy: Production Innovation, Content Ecosystem Expansion, User Experience Enhancement, and New Revenue Creation. SBS is expanding investment in Studio S (drama) and Studio Prism (entertainment) as core growth engines.

■ SBS 'AI-First Content Leader' Strategy

The Bigger Vision: From 'Watching' to 'Experiencing'

At the 'Next K-Wave EnterTech Forum,' CEO Bang unveiled an even bolder concept: broadcasting Seoul's SBS Gayo Daejeon (Korea's premier year-end music festival) to the Las Vegas Sphere in real-time using AI and XR. Korean fans in Seoul, American fans in Las Vegas—experiencing the same moment simultaneously.

This aligns with Disney's Adam Monaco's prediction that 2026 will shift from "personalization to moments." But while Disney is creating moments within existing platforms, SBS is creating moments that span continents and categories. K-content evolves from 'content to watch' into 'content to experience.'

The Blueprint: US-Korea EnterTech Alliance

The SBS-Sinclair partnership is the first implementation of a larger vision. Professor Samseog Ko of Dongguk University (member of National AI Strategy Committee) proposed a 'US-Korea EnterTech Alliance'—systematic collaboration between American technology and Korean content.

"The content industry must move beyond simple export-import relationships. Creating deeper cultural resonance that transcends borders is the direction the next Hallyu should pursue. If K-content 1.0 was 'export,' K-content 2.0 is 'co-evolution.'"

Professor Ko's concepts: generative AI virtual idol co-production (Korean producing + U.S. AI tech), global K-pop concerts via XR/AR connecting Seoul-LA-Tokyo in real-time, and personalized K-content in autonomous vehicles. He pledged government-level support for these initiatives.

■ US-Korea EnterTech Alliance Proposals

The Strategic Contrast: Defense vs. Offense

The difference in approach is striking:

U.S. legacy media is optimizing existing businesses—using AI for efficiency, improving targeting precision, creating new ad formats within current platforms. It's smart defense in a shifting market.

SBS is creating new categories—free terrestrial K-content distribution, experiential content via the Sphere, cross-border entertainment technology collaboration. It's offense that sidesteps the competition entirely.

WBD's Ryan Gould emphasized "predictable, repeatable, reliable revenue." Disney's Adam Monaco talked about the "shift to moments." Both are valid strategies for navigating market transition. But SBS isn't navigating the same market—it's opening an adjacent one.

Outlook: Who Wins When the Lines Cross?

$54.7 billion vs. $40.9 billion. The crossover comes in 2029-2030. When linear and CTV advertising reach parity, the market will have fundamentally restructured.

Disney, WBD, NBCU, and Paramount are preparing for that world with AI-powered efficiency, data-driven targeting, and new engagement formats. They're playing to win in the new market structure.

SBS is playing a different game. By the time the lines cross, Korean content may already be a fixture on American terrestrial TV—not as a streaming option among many, but as free cultural infrastructure. The company that mastered the 'dual success model' in Korea is now applying the same logic globally: don't choose between platforms; be on all of them.

Netflix wrote Act 1 of K-content's global story.

The SBS-Sinclair partnership opens Act 2. In a market where U.S. giants are playing defense, SBS is playing offense—and building tomorrow's distribution infrastructure today.

Sources: Emarketer, Axios Visuals, Disney, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, SBS, Sinclair, Korea Broadcasting Association, CES 2026 CSpace Studio