Korean BJ Platforms 2026: SOOP, CHZZK, PandaTV & More

Where do Korean BJs stream?

Korean BJs (BJ is short for “broadcasting jockey”), the livestream hosts behind KBJ (Korean BJ) videos, broadcast on several Korean platforms rather than on one site. If the word is new to you, start with our guide to what a Korean BJ is; this article is about where the broadcasts happen.

Until early 2024 the biggest of them was Twitch. Mobile Index, an app-data service run by the Korean company IGAWorks, put Twitch's share of the Korean streaming market at 52% in November 2023, against AfreecaTV's 45%. Twitch left Korea on 27 February 2024. Since then two platforms have led: SOOP, the former AfreecaTV, and CHZZK, run by the internet company Naver. PandaTV, FlexTV and PopkonTV are other services with audiences of their own.

Gifts and logos differ from one platform to the next and show up in recordings. Excel broadcasts, group shows that rank each BJ's gifts on screen, are explained in the PandaTV section. The sections below take the platforms one at a time, with dates, because much has changed since 2024.

What is SOOP, and why did AfreecaTV change its name?

SOOP is the platform many viewers still know as AfreecaTV. It was renamed on 15 October 2024, 18 years after AfreecaTV's official launch. Its Korean name, 숲 (sup), means “forest”. According to Korean press reports, the company wanted to move beyond the idea of “TV” broadcasting toward a live platform built around communication, and to grow as a global platform.

The rename also changed some official words: broadcasters became 스트리머 (seuteurimeo, streamers), while the gift currency kept its name, 별풍선 (byeol pungseon, “star balloon”). Fans and video titles still say BJ and KBJ; our Korean BJ slang glossary explains these and other platform words. In this guide, AfreecaTV refers to the platform before the rename and SOOP to everything after it.

Branding therefore helps date a recording. An AfreecaTV logo or watermark usually means the broadcast took place before 15 October 2024, and a SOOP logo usually means it took place later, although SOOP's separate global service already used the name from June 2024. SOOP merged its Korean and global services in January 2026 and moved its main address to sooplive.com in March 2026; as of 17 October 2026, afreecatv.com and sooplive.co.kr both redirect there.

Star balloons and subscriptions

• Price. As of July 2026, a star balloon costs 110 won (less than 10 US cents) on the web and in the ONE store and Galaxy Store apps. In the Google Play and App Store apps it costs 160 won, because the store's fee is added to the price.
• What streamers receive. Money Today reported in October 2026 that SOOP pays 60, 70 or 80 won per 110-won star balloon, depending on whether the streamer's tier is General, Best or Partner. As of July 2026, star balloons bring in more than 70% of SOOP's revenue.
• Subscriptions. A 구독 (gudok, subscription) supports one streamer with a monthly payment. On 5 June 2025, Subscription Basic replaced the old Tier 1, which cost 4,500 won a month, and Subscription Plus replaced Tier 2. Streamers set the Plus price between 9,500 and 29,500 won a month at web prices, and SOOP keeps 30% of subscription fees.

Replays and clips

A replay is called 다시보기 (dasi bogi, “watching again”). Since 1 June 2026, how long it stays up depends on the streamer's tier, according to SOOP's notice.

• General. 90 days, or one year once a replay reaches 50 unique views.
• Best. Two years, or permanently above 1,000 unique views.
• Partner. Permanently.

An older rule that made a General streamer's replay permanent after 10 star balloons, Ad Balloons or stickers was dropped, though replays already made permanent that way stay permanent. The new limits also applied to older replays, so those that missed them were deleted on 1 June 2026, which is why some AfreecaTV-era replays are no longer online.

Shorter pieces come in two forms. A 유저클립 (yujeo keullip, user clip) is cut from a stream by a viewer and runs from 20 seconds to 5 minutes. 캐치 (kaechi, Catch) is SOOP's name for vertical videos of 3 minutes or less, which viewers can cut from a live stream or replay and streamers can also upload.

Why did Twitch leave Korea, and where does YouTube fit?

Twitch's chief executive, Dan Clancy, announced in a post on the Twitch blog in December 2023 that Twitch would shut down its business in Korea on 27 February 2024. He blamed network fees, the charges internet providers make for carrying video traffic. Twitch said these were still about ten times higher than in most other countries, even after it had limited video quality to 720p. The association of Korea's telecom operators called that claim untrue and blamed Twitch's own business failure.

Twitch has not come back. A Twitch-branded event in Seoul on 1 September 2026 was an Amazon Ads business meeting for Korean brands, and Twitch said in writing that it did not mean a return to Korea.

YouTube is the other big name. When Twitch announced its exit, Newsis noted that YouTube is easy for overseas viewers to reach, but that a delay of several seconds between stream and chat makes live interaction harder. From 2026 to 2030, Korean-language live coverage of the LCK (League of Legends Champions Korea, the country's top League of Legends league) is exclusive to CHZZK and SOOP. The LCK's YouTube channel still posts highlights and behind-the-scenes videos, and international events such as MSI and Worlds still stream on YouTube.

What is CHZZK?

CHZZK, 치지직 (chijijik) in Korean, is Naver's livestreaming platform. Naver began beta testing it as a game-streaming service on 19 December 2023, two weeks after Twitch announced its exit, and launched it officially on 9 May 2024.

It drew Twitch's audience quickly. Between December 2023 and March 2024, about 1.84 million users moved from Twitch to CHZZK and about 870,000 to AfreecaTV, according to IGAWorks, the company behind Mobile Index. A key reason was a program that let viewers carry over their Twitch subscriptions.

Sports and esports are its other pillar. Besides its share of the LCK, Naver holds Korea's exclusive online and mobile streaming rights to the FIFA World Cups from 2026 to 2032, and Seoul Economic Daily reported a peak of 4.94 million concurrent users on CHZZK during the 2026 World Cup.

Cheese, payouts and replays

• Cheese. 치즈 (chijeu, cheese) is CHZZK's gift currency. According to CHZZK's help center (in Korean), one cheese is worth one won plus 10% VAT, so 1,000 cheese cost 1,100 won on the web. In the mobile app, store fees are added and 2,500 cheese cost 4,000 won.
• What streamers receive. On 30 September 2026 CHZZK announced a fourth streamer tier, Challenger, alongside Rookie, Pro and Partner, starting 1 November 2026; Money Today reported that from that day streamers receive 60% (Rookie), 70% (Pro and Challenger) or 80% (Partner) of gift revenue.
• Replays. The streamer decides whether each broadcast gets a replay. For replays made since 5 November 2025, Rookie replays stay up for 30 days (7 days with fewer than 100 viewers), Pro replays for 60 days (14 days with fewer than 100 viewers) and Partner replays permanently; Challenger replays, from 1 November 2026, are kept for a year.

SOOP vs CHZZK: which one is bigger?

It depends on what you count. By Mobile Index's count, CHZZK first passed SOOP in monthly active app users (MAU) in November 2024 and has stayed ahead; another tracker, WiseApp, had CHZZK ahead of AfreecaTV as early as March 2024. In March 2026, Mobile Index counted 3.06 million for CHZZK and 2.37 million for SOOP. By September 2026 CHZZK had more than 4.5 million and SOOP about 2.3 million, and CHZZK's app had passed 10 million downloads.

SOOP leads on time spent. In the same March 2026 data, SOOP viewers watched about 42.5 million hours against 28.5 million on CHZZK. The lead held in August 2026, with 39.24 million hours on SOOP against 34.16 million on CHZZK, even though CHZZK had 3.71 million monthly users to SOOP's 2.33 million (Mobile Index, reported by Money Today).

Softcon Viewership figures for 1 January to 12 May 2026 split the same way. CHZZK had the higher peak, about 673,000 viewers at the same time to SOOP's 546,000, and SOOP the higher average, about 148,000 to 122,000.

The two results can fit together. In May 2026 the Korean magazine The Scoop argued that big events such as the Winter Olympics and the LCK Cup bring waves of new users to CHZZK who often stay only briefly, and called this the trap of a “stopover”. Seoul Economic Daily reported in October 2026 that the 2026 sports streams kept some newcomers: time spent on CHZZK rose 25.9% year on year on international sports and 15.3% on other content. Neither measure makes one platform better than the other; they describe different viewing habits.

What is PandaTV (Pandalive)?

PandaTV, 팬더티비 (paendeo tibi) in Korean, has been in service since November 2019 at pandalive.co.kr, which is why fans call it both PandaTV and Pandalive. It is a Korean platform run by Double Media, with its head office in Busan and a studio in Gangnam, Seoul. It is not the Chinese site Panda TV.

Double Media, which runs PandaTV, reports more than 20 million cumulative members and more than 1 million monthly active users worldwide as of February 2026; these are the company's own figures.

Hearts

• Price. PandaTV viewers gift 하트 (hateu, hearts). As of 17 October 2026 the official store sells 100 hearts for 11,000 won, or 110 won each.
• Amounts. Hearts are bought and sent in amounts of at least 100.
• Refunds and validity. Unused hearts can be refunded within seven days of payment, and hearts stay valid for five years.

What is PandaClass? Excel broadcasts on PandaTV

PandaTV is one of the platforms that host 엑셀방송 (eksel bangsong, “Excel broadcasts”), group broadcasts in which the gifts each BJ receives are ranked on screen like a spreadsheet; SOOP hosts them too. Seoul Shinmun reported that a PandaTV Excel-broadcast show, The Crew (더 크루), premiered on 15 September 2025.

PandaClass (팬더클래스, paendeo keullaeseu; also written Panda Class) is another such show: a season-based group broadcast in the Excel format on the PandaTV channel ‘pandaclass’. Its ninth season ended on 19 September 2026, and the channel announced a tenth for early November. It is a channel on PandaTV, not a separate platform, an app or a dance course.

PandaTV in Japan (FANZA)

On 18 August 2026 PandaTV announced its entry into Japan on FANZA, a Japanese 18+ platform, through its subsidiary Hibiki Media and with AI-assisted translation. As of 17 October 2026, the Japan-facing site, pandalive.co.jp, is branded “PandaTV K-girl” and carries Hibiki Media's copyright.

FlexTV, PopkonTV and the end of WinkTV

FlexTV (플렉스티비, peullekseu tibi) officially launched on 10 May 2021. Its gift item is 렉스 (rekseu, Rex), and as of 17 October 2026 its shop sells 100 Rex for 11,000 won.

FlexTV has had two names. On 13 August 2025 it relaunched as TTING LIVE (띵라이브, tting raibeu), but the FlexTV name was back on its site by 10 November 2025. As of 17 October 2026 it operates as FlexTV, run by FlexUp Co., and ttinglive.co.kr redirects to flextv.co.kr. Recordings from the same platform can therefore carry either name.

PopkonTV (팝콘티비, papkon tibi) is run by THE E&M (더이앤엠), which absorbed PopkonTV's former operator, Hongyeon, in 2016, and as of 17 October 2026 it is still running. In 2022, Kyunghyang Shinmun described it as a service offering adult personal broadcasts, among others. Its broadcasters are called MCs, and viewers gift 팝콘 (papkon, popcorn). Popcorn costs 110 won each, and only accounts with identity or adult verification can buy it.

When an MC starts a broadcast in PopkonTV's mobile app, they choose whether it is open only to viewers aged 19 and over. Broadcasts from the app are capped at 1,000 viewers.

What happened to WinkTV?

WinkTV (윙크티비, wingkeu tibi) was not a global version of PandaTV. It was a separate Korean BJ site, and as late as May 2025 its own footer named a different operator, Planet Pang. WinkTV ended its service on 2 June 2025, merged into PandaTV and moved its members over.

Watching from abroad, 19+ rules and gift limits

The 19+ label comes from the Youth Protection Act. Under it, anyone under 19 is generally a minor, and services must check a user's age and identity before showing content rated harmful to minors. SOOP and CHZZK both require adult verification for 19+ content and ask users to renew it every year.

Can you watch from outside Korea?

• SOOP. People who live abroad can sign up with an email address and SMS verification, and the interface can be set to Korean, English, Thai, Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese. Some services are limited outside Korea, such as buying in the SOOP Store and automatic payment for subscriptions. Its 19+ broadcasts need adult verification, renewed every year, and are closed to unverified accounts; as of 17 October 2026 its help center describes no foreign-ID check like CHZZK's.
• CHZZK. Since 28 June 2024, streamers can limit their broadcasts and videos to viewers in Korea, so some are blocked abroad. For 19+ content, CHZZK normally checks age with a phone in the viewer's own name or an i-PIN, a Korean online ID number. People who live abroad and have neither can ask CHZZK's customer center to check an unexpired ID from their country of residence.
• PandaTV. In Japan, PandaTV announced a service on FANZA, an 18+ platform, in August 2026.

Oversight and gift limits

Under Korean law, internet streams count as online content rather than TV broadcasting, so TV rules do not apply. The Korea Communications Standards Commission, renamed in October 2025, reviews online content and can ask platforms to delete or block it or to suspend or ban a BJ; platforms also enforce their own terms. In May 2025, Edaily reported, the commission asked SOOP, PandaTV, PopkonTV and GoldLive to strengthen self-regulation and to act quickly against BJs who repeatedly post illegal content, and the platforms agreed to cooperate.

Gift spending has a ceiling as well. Since 1 January 2019, a guideline from the then Korea Communications Commission, a separate government body replaced in October 2025, has asked platforms to cap each user's purchases of paid gifts at 1 million won (several hundred US dollars) a day. It has no legal force and has been criticized as ineffective, but platforms still apply it: CHZZK, for example, lets each user buy at most 1,000,000 cheese a day, which is 1 million won before VAT.

Excel broadcasts have drawn particular scrutiny. At a National Assembly audit in October 2024, a lawmaker said Excel-broadcast BJs held the top 10 places in star-balloon income on SOOP, and SOOP's chief executive said the company would strengthen its policies.

In March 2025 the National Tax Service began tax audits of nine people who run Excel broadcasts; the announcement named no platform. Since 15 October 2025, CHZZK's guidelines have penalized group shows that push viewers into gift contests using sexual or violent acts.

How to tell which platform a KBJ video comes from

A KBJ recording carries clues to where it was broadcast. Star balloons point to SOOP, cheese to CHZZK, hearts to PandaTV, Rex to FlexTV and popcorn to PopkonTV. An AfreecaTV logo usually means a broadcast from before 15 October 2024, a Twitch logo on a Korean stream usually means one from before 27 February 2024, and the TTING LIVE name points to a FlexTV broadcast from between August and November 2025.

SKBJ is an independent site and is not affiliated with any of these platforms. On SKBJ itself, three pages are good places to start.

• BJs. Each BJ whose videos are on SKBJ has a page in our list of Korean BJs.
• New videos. The newest additions are on the latest videos page.
• Tags. Videos are grouped by topic in our tag list.