Asia's Largest Broadcast Video Market BCWW Opens on 6th with Pre-Webinar
iQIYI with 160 Million Members Holds 38% Viewership for K-Dramas
K-Dramas Key Content in Southeast Asia Competing with Netflix's 'Viu'
Beyond Pre-Purchase and Investment, Remake Rights Also Acquired
The International Broadcasting and Video Market (BCWW) is Asia's largest international broadcasting and video event, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by the Korea Creative Content Agency. This year, under the theme "Content, Traveling to a New World," the event will be held online, featuring exhibitions, business consultations, demonstrations of outstanding works and formats, investment briefings, and academic conferences. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@
iQiyi is an online video service (OTT) with 160 million subscribers across 191 countries worldwide. It operates aggressively, adding over 500 dramas and movies in the first half of the year alone. At the center of this strategy are Korean dramas. The fifty titles acquired since last year accounted for a 38% viewership share. Yingming, Vice President of iQiyi, stated at the pre-webinar of the International Broadcasting & Video Market 2021 (BCWW 2021), which opens on the 6th, "‘Backstreet Rookie’, ‘My Roommate Is a Gumiho’, and ‘So I Married an Anti-fan’ have been very popular." He added, "There is high demand in Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Especially in Indonesia, the viewership share reaches 44%." He also noted, "Despite fierce competition among OTT platforms and soaring acquisition costs due to high production expenses, we purchased over 20% more content in the first half of the year."
Viu, which competes on par with Netflix in Southeast Asia, employs a similar strategy. Expanding its reach to the Middle East and South Africa, it has aggressively acquired Korean dramas such as ‘Penthouse’, ‘Monster’, ‘Mr. Queen’, ‘Flower of Evil’, ‘Lovers of the Red Sky’, and ‘Now, We Are Breaking Up’. To prevent leaks on illegal streaming sites, these dramas are broadcast in twenty-seven languages within four hours of airing in Korea. Marion Lee, Head of Content Acquisition and Development at Viu, said, "The approximately 300 Korean dramas are core content for our service." She added, "Since we were the first to introduce Korean dramas to Southeast Asia, we plan to deepen our involvement in related businesses."
Transactions have long surpassed pre-purchases. Viu has participated in the production of titles such as ‘River Where the Moon Rises’ and ‘The World of the Married’. In 2019, it remade ‘Black’ into a Malaysian version and recently released its second season. The plot and setting remained the same, but the background and characters were changed. Lee explained, "The original protagonist, the Grim Reaper, was replaced with the Bunian from Malaysian folklore." She added, "We adapted it to be easily understood by local audiences to boost its success and export the rights to neighboring countries." She further stated, "There is infinite trust in Korean content," and expressed a desire to remake more works to meet the demands of Southeast Asian viewers.
iQiyi’s offensive is also formidable. Recently, it acquired global broadcasting rights for ‘Jirisan’ and ‘Shooting Stars’. The contract amount for ‘Jirisan’ is said to be over 80% of its production cost of approximately 32 billion KRW. Last year, they produced ‘My Roommate Is a Gumiho’ as their first Korean original drama. Despite controversies in Korea over Chinese brand product placements, the drama topped viewership ratings on iQiyi and achieved great success. Vice President Yingming said, "It recorded over 800 million views," adding, "It was effective in attracting new subscribers." He also expressed a desire to produce more dramas with Korean broadcasters and producers, especially showing strong interest in romance genres.
iQiyi’s investment in ‘My Roommate Is a Gumiho’ was driven by a passion for romance dramas. Vice President Yingming explained, "Many overseas subscribers seek Korean romance dramas, but the number of recently produced titles has significantly decreased." He added, "We have stepped into direct production to discover creators and content with rich potential."
According to the US online rating site Ranker.com, among the ten Korean dramas popular overseas this year, four are romance dramas. These include ‘My Roommate Is a Gumiho (2nd place)’, ‘The World of the Married (3rd place)’, ‘Youth of May (8th place)’, and ‘So I Married an Anti-fan (9th place)’.
Lee, Head of Content Acquisition and Development, stated, "Our own data and analysis show that the most successful Korean dramas are romantic comedies," adding, "They are especially popular in Southeast Asia." He noted, "While dramas dealing with horror, thriller, medical, and supernatural themes are also growing, they do not match the popularity of melodramas." He further explained, "Recently, ‘Penthouse’, which deals with love and betrayal among the upper class, is being broadcast successfully in Southeast Asia."
The response in the Japanese market is no different. The Korean dramas that have recently been hits on the largest local OTT, U-NEXT, include ‘Backstreet Rookie’, ‘Youth of May’, ‘Melting Me Softly’, ‘The World of the Married’, ‘Her Private Life’, ‘Hotel Del Luna’, and ‘Flower of Evil’?all melodramas. Hirai Hye-won, Head of Asia Content, said, "There is still the highest demand for Korean romance and historical dramas. Most of them maintain long-term popularity." She added, "While the number of genre dramas purchased based on excellent stories and famous actors has increased, their preference does not compare to that of melodramas."
The Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) conveys this demand to the domestic broadcasting industry through various programs beyond webinars. A representative example is the monthly Korean Broadcasting Content Trend Analysis Report produced jointly with the UK global media consulting firm K7 Media. Kim Jung-ok, Head of KOCCA’s Broadcasting Distribution Team, said, "It is essential to accurately understand how our content is perceived overseas to establish appropriate sales strategies." She added, "We also include trends among domestic content and broadcasting stakeholders and deliver this information to overseas OTT platforms as well as broadcasting buyers." She continued, "At this year’s BCWW, we will provide various information ahead of investment briefings, excellent works, and format demonstrations to facilitate smooth transactions."
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