• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.305-322
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• 2016

With the multiplex and wide release strategy, the monopolies of four major distribution companies and three multiplex chain, the polarization of Korean movie's Box Office performance is deepening. The four major distributor of NEW, CJ CGV, Lotte Cinema distributed 290 movies of 538 movies produced from 2009 to 2014 in Korea. The audience market share of these four distributors is 85.74%, while other 248 movies covers only 14.26%, which are distributed by outsides of the four major distribution system. The concentration of film admission has been deepened in Gini Index from 0.53 in 2004 to 0.85 in 2014. The movies distributed by others rather than four major companies suffers inequality in numbers of secured screens, screening times, and secured seats of movie theaters. In the highest 10% of box-office ranking, there is only one movie distributed by others. The lowest 50% of box-office ranking, there are 186 movies by others, while four companies have 81 movies. However, Occupancy rate of seat of major companies is lower than 16.83% of that of the others in the lowest 50% section. Workers of Korean movie industry are suffered from this polarization and they seek their breakthrough by producing erotic movies for VOD in recent years.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.151-167
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• 2015

Korean movie maintain their market share from the highest 59.7% to the lowest 42.1% during the last ten years in Korea. However, with the multiplex and wide release strategy, the monopolies of four major distribution companies and three multiplex chain, the polarization of Korean movie's Box Office performance is deepening. With Gini-Index, concentration of film admission has been deepened in intensity from 0.53 in 2004 to 0.85 in 2014. Using Thomas Piketty's method, Movie attendance proportion of Highest 10% of the box office ranking for 2014 sharply increased to 71.2% from 30.28% in 2004 and the lowest 50% of box office ranking dropped from 11.03% in 2004 to 0.08% in 2014. Concentrations of the number of Screen, Screening, the seating Capacity have the same analogy with the polarization of film admission. However, concentration of seating share has maintained a modest increase from 0.22 in 2004 to 0.38 in 2014. This analysis shows that polarization of Korean movie box office performance is not the sole result of Natural selection of market but the result of the monopolies of distribution companies and Multiplex chains.