After starting the broadcast on AfreecaTV, Lovelyz member Seo Jisoo reportedly made a profit of 3 million won in just 4 hours, attracting attention. [Seo Jisoo Instagram]
[Herald Economy= Reporter Park Young-hoon] 'No wonder everyone is going crazy to become a BJ?'
Despite the economic downturn in Gyeonggi Province, the star balloons are still popping. It has been reported that an AfreecaTV (Forest) BJ (Internet Personal Broadcaster) made close to a record-breaking profit of nearly 500 billion won last year through star balloons. It is said that this year, the earnings are expected to surpass those of last year.
According to the recent '2023 ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Report' released by SOOP (formerly AfreecaTV), the 'Streamer Distribution Fees' (star balloon commissions, subscription fees, etc.) of AfreecaTV BJs last year amounted to 476.1 billion won, an increase of 22.7% compared to the previous year (388.1 billion won).
The streamer distribution fee to BJ has been increasing every year. The distribution fee, which was 153.1 billion won in 2018, increased significantly to 195.7 billion won in 2019, 251.5 billion won in 2020, and 346.3 billion won in 2021. Most of the streamer distribution fee comes from star balloon revenue.
Currently, it is estimated that there are about 30,000 BJs active on AfreecaTV. The average monthly number of users is around 2 million. In particular, 'Star Balloons' are the main source of income for BJs. When viewers purchase Star Balloons, they are divided between the BJ and AfreecaTV. Typically, AfreecaTV and BJs split the revenue in a '3:7' ratio.
2023 Africa TV BJ Awards Ceremony [Photo, Africa TV]
The star balloon income of popular BJs exceeds imagination. It is reported that their monthly income reaches 500 million to 700 million won. The popular BJ on AfreecaTV, 'Commander Zico,' is said to have earned over 30 billion won in income last year.
Former Lovelyz member Seo Jisoo made her debut as an AfreecaTV BJ and earned 3 million won in just 4 hours, sparking a hot topic.
However, excessive production, exposure, and gambling behaviors of some BJs to receive many star balloons also face strong backlash.
AfreecaTV changed its 13-year-old mission to 'forest' as the negative image of BJs grew due to the misconduct of some BJs. It also announced that it will change the title of BJ to 'streamer' (a person who streams).