Lack of New Korean dramas on Viki

General Discussion
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Has anyone been noticing there has been a huge dropoff in the number of K dramas on Viki lately? I understand with the popularity of k dramas more platforms (eg. Disney plus and Netflix) are getting into the mix but things seem to be getting serious. I subscribe to kocowa through viki and as of today (March 22, 2002) I could only count 7 currently airing k dramas total not including variety shows. Also from observation it seems that there are usually a bunch of the currently airing shows from the big 3 thats not airing on their own platform kocowa ( or any other platform that Im aware of). Does anyone from Viki know what’s happening? Are there plans for these shows to air later on?

I see where Viki has made efforts to increase the number of Japanese and Chinese dramas recently which is good. However Viki is really known for Korean dramas and I’m kind of sad to see that change. At the end of the day it can be seen as a form of growth so Im not necessarily against it either but it doesn’t seem they are making as much effort to bring new dramas ( except a huge amount of bl shows which are not my cup of tea). Maybe I’m wrong on this.

From what I Understood some korean platforms such as tving, olleh tv and seezn dont distribute outside south Korea. Does anyone know if Viki has tried contacting them about distributing their shows? Sometimes I wonder what I’m paying for. At one point I thought I would have a Viki subscription for life and sadly I dont feel as strongly as before.

You guys can give recommendations for Viki or just post your thoughts on what’s happening. Thanks

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I noticed that too… i guess its because the competition has gotten more fierce… Netflix has that whole partnership thing with tvN and also makes Korean dramas so that could be a factor

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February and March have been a slaughter with regards to the k-drama. NX has bought off too many. Hopefully Viki catches up in the following months :crossed_fingers:

By make, do you mean when the drama says NX original? Because they don’t really participate in the creative process. They are offered a drama as a finished product, and if they buy off exclusive rights (with the right amount of money), they can call it an “original”.

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I suspect that the platforms will secure exclusive broadcasting rights. They also restrict themselves regionally. For example, we still can’t watch Snowdrop or Rookie Cops here in Germany.
Although Viki has a strong parent company, it doesn’t seem willing to spend money endlessly.

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No, I mean the dramas that NF makes themselves… My Name, Hellbound, Squid Game… their original network is NF.

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Are you referring to the higly controversial drama that was nearly shut down due to its historical distortions? Is it even available outside Korea, like legally?

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Okay, so I decided to do a little research (still in study mode, don’t mind me - also, please correct me if I’m wrong)

On-Air k-dramas: 24 (including web dramas)
Dramas from the big networks: 14 (KBS, SBS, MBC, tvN, OCN, jTBC)

Dramas from the big networks but not on NF: 10
Dramas from the big networks but not on Viki: 7
Dramas from the big networks but not on NF or Viki: 3

Dramas on Netflix: 5 (4/5 are Originals - 39, 25-21, A Business Proposal, Forecasting Love and Weather - number 5 is Love ft. Marriage and Divorce 3)
So all the dramas they’ve taken from the big networks are Originals that can’t be bought by any other platform.

Dramas on Viki: 9 (Military Prosecutor, Young Lady & Gentleman, A Superior Day, King of Tears Lee Bang Won, Kill Heel, Sponsor, Second Husband, Love Twist, Cherry Blossoms After Winter)
Dramas from the big networks on Viki: 7

Dramas on Disney+: 2 (Crazy Love, Grid)

Now let’s check the Top Airing Kdramas list:
image
4 out of 5 are NF Originals - that is, ALL of the currently airing NF Original kdramas. This can be attributed both to NF’s popularity and the star casts.

I think this is why we think Viki has so less dramas - the ones we WANT to watch aren’t here

Upcoming 2022 Dramas in April-early May(licensed as of March 23, 2022 with confirmed airing dates)

From big networks, on NF: 3 (Tomorrow, My Liberation Notes, Our Blues) - all Originals
From big networks, on Viki: 4 (Again My Life, Sh**ting Stars, Why Her?, Showtime Begins!)

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Viki has uploaded of lot of webdramas that I quite enjoy. Since I’m too busy and too tired with work, I can’t binge anymore. :weary: But these short shows really hit the spot. :grin:

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Snowdrop did eventually get released officially on Disney+ in the US.

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They are dubbing in a Indian language and releasing it as well.

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I noticed that too. Also the newest ones aren´t really coming to Viki anymore that´s kind of sad. And also there are many K-dramas which aren´t available in my country… Mostly genre love / romance and I´m into thriller stuff.

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I remember that Dear M was going to premiere on Viki, but with the scandal of one of the main protagonists, the Kdrama was postponed indefinitely without a release date (its original release date was February 26, 2021). And after 8 months, the Kdrama was already removed from Viki because according to them in a message to their volunteers “Dear M will likely not air in Korea”. I really feel sorry for the volunteers (subtitlers, segmenters). FEBA3019-D15E-4A9C-A635-9800928B81C0

And I can’t believe that Viki is having fewer dramas lately.

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I have the impression that during the last two years (covid) the industry hasn’t produced as many works as in the past. Worldwide. I think it is not just Viki that doesn’t have new material, it’s that there are less dramas in general.

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Snowdrop has been released in the UK and Disney plus now as well. For anyone that wishes to find it though you will have to search for it manually as the Disney plus interface hasn’t yet been configured to enable people to easily find overseas/non-English audio content. But I imagine this is something that will change as Disney plus gets more overseas content.

People who are in New Zealand, Australia and Canada might wish to search for it manually to see if they can find it.

Rookie cops hasn’t yet been released in the UK, though something tells me it will be eventually

The lack of Korean dramas here will be down to a mixture of all of the things mentioned in this topic. Netflix doesn’t actually have as many new dramas as people think a lot of what they have is older back catalogue stuff viki also has a lot of older stuff as well

I would say that Viki still gets more new content on average than Netflix does

But remember, the European uses of Viki. Will see even less content due to lack of access to the premium pass, so for European users new content will appear to be lacking this month for example in the UK there has only been around three new big Korean shows available

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I think there will be months we won’t get as many licensed Kdrama titles as we used to. For example February and March were lost. Let’s hope things get better in April and May.

On the other side, more Japanese and Chinese titles have been licensed lately.

Fighting viki licensing Team!
You can check the upcoming titles here too: :sunglasses:

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According to me, this lack is also due to the fact that Viki is focus on BL. There are so many dramas of this genre here since a year now. I understand people could be pleased by them but it let less licenses for other genres. I’m very sad that there’s also a big lack on Chinese dramas. Very big wuxia are only on Chinese platforms. I miss the period of “flame’s daughter”, we were having big titles from China.

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Yes, I have also noticed a lot of BL shows on Viki now and also web dramas. And there are practically no new Taiwanese dramas licensed here either.

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I agree. All the shows that I want to watch are coming on Netflix. They do not translate songs for some reason and I love the translations here at Viki and keep waiting for shows here. I did have the full year Viki subscription but now I am debating if its worth it…
I dont want Viki to die like Dramafever, so Viki please get more shows… Netflix is basically making shows out of Webtoons, so you can do that too…

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Lack of variety is very prevalent here at RViki =, which is disappointing because we all deserve the same/equal treatment. All these young kids dramas don’t do anything for me, so I feel it’s so unfair I have NOTHING that calls my attention to watch in here.

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Have you watched What Happens to My Family, Mother and other family dramas. They are good and worth watching.

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