Asia casts off! Chromecast comes to Korea

Update: Chromecast has also arrived in Japan and Australia.

Whether it's K-Pop superstars, loveable penguins, or geriatric comedy antics — Koreans will now be able to use Chromecast to bring their favorite content on a phone, tablet or laptop to the biggest screen in their homes.

A streaming media device that plugs into any HDTV in your house, Chromecast makes it easy for people to watch their favorite 2NE1 music videos or episodes of Pororo on the big screen. Thanks to a partnership with Korean streaming media services Tving and Hoppin, Koreans will also be able to stream tens of thousands of videos, movies and popular TV shows such as Ssulzun, a celebrity-driven debate show, and SNL Korea, Korea’s version of Saturday night Live, as well as Reply 1994, a nostalgic drama about life in Korea in 1994.

Koreans are some of the most savvy consumers of content over the Internet in the world and the smartphone is already a much larger part of their media consumption than elsewhere. Over 60% of YouTube views in Korea come from mobile devices, compared to the 40% average for the world. All these mobile content lovers will now be able to bridge the gap between their smartphone and the biggest screen in the house. And let’s not forget that, in Asia, Korean TV content is often as highly, if not more, valued as hit American dramas, if search interest is anything to go by:

It’s great to see some of Asia’s premier content producers and some of Asia’s most advanced Internet users get closer together.

Posted by Mickey Kim, Head of Chromecast & TV Partnerships, Google Asia Pacific