Seven channels selling goods on television in South Korea saw their combined operating profit plunge 39.6 percent on-year in 2023, according to industry data Sunday, hurt by intense competition with social media and livestreaming platforms.

The combined operating profit of the seven TV home shopping channels stood at 327 billion won (US$241 million) last year, compared with a combined profit of 541.1 billion won in 2022, according to the data released by the Korea TV Homeshopping Association.

It was the first time in 13 years that the combined operating profit of the seven channels sank below 500 billion won, the association said.

The seven channels included CJ Onstyle, Lotte Homeshopping and Hyundai Home Shopping.

The combined sales of the seven channels also fell 5.4 percent on-year to 5.5 trillion won last year. (Yonhap)