I’ve been a yearly Viki subscriber, but with the recent changes, I’m wondering if this will be my last year. I noticed a bunch of shows — especially variety and some dramas — are disappearing or have already left. KOCOWA ended its distribution partnership with Viki in November 2025, so Viki Pass Plus no longer includes KOCOWA content, and some titles have moved over to KOCOWA+ instead.
Before I decide, I’d love to hear your thoughts:
What’s your experience with Viki’s current library?
Are there still plenty of shows you watch here?
Has losing KOCOWA content made a big difference for you?
Are the missing shows a deal‑breaker?
Do you think Viki is still worth the subscription overall?
Maybe for specific genres (e.g., non‑KOCOWA dramas)?
My experience with Viki’s current library: Even without KOC, I still have Korean dramas to watch and enjoy. V has gotten the liscense for several Korean dramas each month that I have been interested in. Yes, the end of KOC partnership did hurt the backlist, but I still find older Korean content to watch and rewatch. I am also a fan of Chinese dramas and V is getting many Chinese shows that I am interested in. For Japan and Thailand, V does have some dramas that I check out. The new Taiwan content is not as plentiful as in years past, but V does have some nice Taiwan shows. So, yes, I still find plenty to watch here on V.
Has losing KOC made a big difference for me? Well, as I said before, the loss of KOC did hurt the backlist for me, and I do miss the older dramas that i liked to rewatch. I think if you are a fan of Korean Variety shows, the loss of KOC is probably more upsetting. I’m not a regular watcher of Variety shows, more of an occasional watcher, so I wasn’t really affected by that as much as others. The only K variety show that I watched with some regularity was “Immortal Songs,” but I had become an occasional watcher these past few years as I found the show getting a little repetitive for me, and also the decision by the network to no longer sub the song lyrics lessened my enjoyment of the show as well. However, I do hope that V can make a new deal with KOC or other providers to bring back some of the older dramas and shows. Viki managed to make a deal with another content provider for “Running Man” variety show, so it has returned to V. Hopefully, they can do the same for some of the other older shows. That said, because I watch content from a variety of countries and not Korean content exclusively, the KOC loss is not that big for me. So, no, I don’t find the missing shows a dealbreaker.
Do I think Viki subscription is still worth it overall? Yes, I do. I like to watch Asian content, so I find V is worth it for me because they are strong in Chinese content, as well as having shows that interest me from Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea. They are branching out to offer a few dramas and films from other Asian countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. There are Korean dramas that are exclusive to V, such as Scarlet Heart Ryeo. I do find that V has new K dramas that I am interested in. I am currently enjoying IDOL I, To My Beloved Thief, and The Judge Returns. I’m looking forward to Our Universe in February. I also find Viki worth the subscription for the high quality subtitles they offer. Due to changes in how the volunteers have access to shows and films here at V, sometimes I must wait a while to watch a fully edited episode of a drama, but it is worth it to me.
I have always been a Viki supporter, be sure that the Viki staff is trying to catch up with everything that has left Kocowa, but you should understand that we all have to respect the directives. If you leave, you will be sorry, because no platform has such a large audience of volunteer strength as Viki and with whom you can correspond. Kocova didn’t take everything away, there are still many dramas on Viki that can be watched and translated.
Partnerships and licensing agreements come and go. It’s how the industry operates (and not just this industry). Viki is not dependent on KO or vice versa. Each has its own pros and cons.
As far as Viki goes, I don’t see much downside to it not having KO (not the only platform/provider that has K-content) since it still has a whole array of global titles for everyone to enjoy. For me, there are still tons of titles on my to-watch & to-rewatch list
Also, Viki has two upsides that aren’t comparable, IMO:
that of the multi-languages available on Viki, especially if such translations are vetted and edited by our Viki fam of contributors, both in subtitles and segments;
that of this special fam of contributors who are volunteers, who enjoy sharing their knowledge and skillsets as they contribute and share in the labor of love (and yes, I’m biased here)
If one is only interested in K-content, then yes, Viki (and not just Viki) may not have availability to some of them. So if you are one of the “only-K-content” viewers, KO would be one of the various platforms out there that would feed your needs.
What’s your experience with Viki’s current library?
I like to watch a variety of shows from all the different countries that Viki offers. Personally, I find watching everything from only one or two countries to be boring. But I have noticed that the library for the genre I watch tends to be very Thailand-heavy. It would be nice to have just as many options from the other countries too.
Has losing KOCOWA content made a big difference for you?
It looks like some of my favorite K shows are still listed in the Viki library as of now, but I’m sure this will have an impact on the K options going forward, so that is disappointing.
Do you think Viki is still worth the subscription overall?
I would say, if the library runs dry, then it would definitely be time to suspend the subscription and possibly come back later when new content of interest is added.
I’ve had Rakuten now going on 6 years and I’m hooked. The varieties available is awesome. The absence of commercials is fantastic. The dialog is enjoyable to the point I can actually follow the storyline without any of the foul language. Do I miss KOC? Yes, but not enough to leave Rakuten. The cost for me is so minimal compared to more costly apps. So for me Rakuten/ Viki will be my go to for peace of mind.
)
