A Study on the Audience's Experience of Watching Movies through Group Streaming: Focused on Watcha Party

The purpose of this study is to understand the experience of watching movies in group streaming, focusing on Watcha party users, and to understand how watching movies in spaces outside the cinema is different from watching in cinema. Accordingly, an in-depth interview was conducted with nine users who had experienced a watcha party by selecting the phenomenological research method of Giorgi. As a result of the study, a total of 8 components and 27 sub-components were derived, and the following results were obtained. First, it was found that due to the diversification of OTT services and the development of group streaming, audiences chose not only cinema but also various spaces when watching movies. Second, it was found that while continuously using Watcha Party, users experienced differentiated interests that they had not experienced with the existing movie viewing method. Third, based on these experiences, it was confirmed that the choice of the movie viewing space was expanded according to the type of movie or the given situation in the future. This study is significant in that it specifically analyzes the experiences of Watcha Party users through phenomenological methods and can help identify and understand the types of movies watched through group streaming.