Naver has successfully concluded major sports broadcasts, including the Asian Games, following its coverage of the World Cup, significantly expanding its streaming platform, Chijijik. By utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to reprocess game footage into short-form content, Naver is accelerating the establishment of a sports content ecosystem.
As of October 4, Naver reported that the number of views for AI clips related to the Asian Games surpassed 53.2 million, with over 4,600 AI clips published.
From September 19 to October 4, Naver provided live coverage of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Chijijik. The platform also showcased its popular 'Watch Together' feature and on-site content, which had previously received positive feedback during the World Cup and Olympics. This strategy aims to attract a large user base to Chijijik while encouraging consumption of both the games and creator commentary and analysis.
A notable aspect of this Asian Games coverage is the production of content using AI. Naver's AI video analysis platform, SPORTER, automatically identifies key highlight moments from live or video-on-demand (VOD) broadcasts to create short-form videos. This process reduces the burden on creators who previously had to manually review and edit game footage.
During the Asian Games, the scope of SPORTER's analysis was significantly expanded. It applied a system that analyzes over 40 sports and more than 70 sub-disciplines using a single AI model, automatically selecting key scenes from various events broadcast on Chijijik. This approach allows AI to identify and create content from multiple games featuring Korean athletes, rather than being limited to specific popular events.
The AI-generated clips are made available across various Naver services, including the Naver app home feed, clip tab, integrated search, AI briefings, and sports pages, in real-time. This structure broadens the points of contact for accessing sports content as clips created from a single game video are disseminated across multiple Naver services. Additionally, AI translation features were implemented during the Asian Games to enhance content viewing convenience.
Actual user engagement results have also emerged. The men's football final on October 3 recorded a peak of 1.23 million concurrent viewers, marking the highest figure during the tournament. This influx of users to Chijijik through major sports broadcasts, combined with the use of AI to expand the production and distribution of game content, has increased the platform's utility.
Chijijik is not limiting itself to sports broadcasts but is also expanding its content offerings through major events. Immediately following the conclusion of the Asian Games, on October 6, it will present 'Watch Together' content related to the Busan International Film Festival's opening ceremony. By the end of the year, it plans to provide content related to award ceremonies and entertainment intellectual property (IP). This strategy aims to connect the user engagement gained from sports to other major events and content.
However, next year is expected to have relatively fewer large international sports events. Therefore, a key challenge will be maintaining and expanding the user base of Chijijik based on its own content competitiveness, such as AI clips and creator content, beyond the temporary influx of users from major broadcasting rights.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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