Five CJ ENM Titles Named Among TIME’s “K-Dramas of the Year”

K-Content Becomes the Second Most Consumed Genre Worldwide After the United States

Drama posters. Provided by CJ ENM

CJ ENM announced on January 8 that five Tving streaming titles were included in TIME magazine’s list of the “10 Best K-Dramas of 2025.”

In the article, TIME analyzed that Korean content has become the second most consumed genre among global TV audiences, following the United States. The magazine particularly highlighted the partnership between CJ ENM and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), noting that Korean creators are seeking strategies to maintain control over their intellectual property (IP) rights.

Among the selected works, “A Week Before I Die” and “Study Group” are Tving originals. “Spirit Fingers” is exclusive to Tving, while “Unknown Seoul” and “Someday Wise Resident Life” were released simultaneously on both Tving and tvN.

Ranked second, “A Week Before I Die” is the first online video service (OTT) series produced by CJ ENM’s film division. TIME highlighted the protagonist’s journey of overcoming depression and healing as the core of the story. Ranked fifth, “Unknown Seoul,” planned by Studio Dragon, was praised for its universal themes of healing conveyed through human relationships and its setting.

“Someday Wise Resident Life,” which ranked sixth, topped the Netflix non-English TV show charts in six countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia, immediately after its release. “Study Group,” ranked seventh, won the Best Streaming Original Feature award at the Asia Academy Creative Awards (AACA).

In addition, TIME mentioned “The Tyrant’s Chef” and “Fragmented City” as other noteworthy titles. International media outlets such as the South China Morning Post (SCMP) and Teen Vogue also named CJ ENM dramas as K-dramas of the year.

A CJ ENM representative stated, “Tving is accelerating the spread of K-content by expanding into 17 regions in Southeast Asia and onto Disney Plus Japan. Having confirmed our content competitiveness and global growth potential, we will continue to present storytelling that resonates with audiences worldwide.”