A mildly interesting story, for those of us selling content in Korea at least, says the average South Korean household spends W224,413 (roughly $200) per month on “media,” including charges for mobile phone, Internet, cable TV, home phone, and (printed) newspapers and magazines.
For someone currently paying for the same services in the U.S., with its far slower Internet speeds and cable bills that can easily hit $100 a month, the breakdown is striking:
- W172,136 ($155) a month for cellphone service (again, this is per household, not per person)
- W27,148 ($25) a month for Internet
- W16,347 ($15) a month for cable (reminding me how fondly I recall that bill from Seoul, compared to DC)
- W14,960 ($13.50) a month for home phone, for those who still have it
- and W14,423 ($13) a month for newspapers and magazines
The survey, of 500 adults age 20-60, also asked people to rank the importance of various media forms on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the most important. The Internet was ranked highest at 4.32, followed closely by mobile phones at 4.30, broadcast TV at 3.7, home phones at 2.5, and (printed) newspaper and magazines at 2.4.