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DramaFever

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DramaFever
Type of businessSubsidiary
FoundedAugust 6, 2009;15 years ago(2009-08-06)
DissolvedOctober 16, 2018;5 years ago(2018-10-16)
Successor(s)Max
Headquarters
New York City
,
United States
Key peopleSeung Bak, founder & CEO
Suk Park, founder & President[1]
IndustryVideo on demand
ParentWarner Bros.(2016–18)
URLwww.dramafever.com
RegistrationFree & Subscription

DramaFeverwas a videostreamingwebsite owned byWarner Bros.that offeredon-demandstreaming video ofdocumentaries,movies, andTV showswith subtitles. DramaFever's content offering was both ad-supported for regular users and available inhigh definitionfor premium subscribers.

DramaFever was available on a variety of devices including iPad, iPhone, Android, and Roku.[2]The company's library of international programming was one of the largest licensed U.S. collections available online, in both English and Spanish, and comprised over 15,000 episodes from 70 content partners[3]across 12 countries.[4]More recently, the company branched out into co-producing television dramas, co-producing the 2013 Korean dramaThe Heirsand the 2014 dramaNaeil's Cantabile.[5][6][7]On February 23, 2016, it became a subsidiary of Warner Bros.[8]DramaFever content was available on their own platform as well as via theVRVstreaming service. Warner Bros. shut down the service and company on October 16, 2018.[9]Its content was available viaVRVuntil November 1, 2018.[10]

History

[edit]

Built upon the feedback of drama fans, many of whom previously frequented pirated sites for Korean drama, the original site was in beta before going live on August 6, 2009.[11]The founders raised approximately US$12 million from investors before the website was acquired bySoftBankin October 2014 for approximately US$100 million.[3]Softbank sold the site to Warner Bros in mid-2016.[12][13]

DramaFever was shut down by Warner Bros. on October 16, 2018, with no advance notice to its subscribers, though, where applicable, refunds to subscribers were hinted at. All that remained on its website was the following message on itsmain page:[14]

Thank you for nine great years

For nine years, DramaFever offered a place for streaming the best Korean, Chinese and Japanese dramas on-demand, straight to your device. We appreciate the passion of our fans and it's been a privilege to deliver you this content. While this decision [to shut down the service] is difficult, there are a variety of business reasons that have led to this conclusion. We appreciate each and every one of our fans and their passion for the content DramaFever was able to bring into your lives. We'd like to take this time to extend our thanks and gratitude to you, our loyal subscribers. We'll be issuing refunds as applicable, and subscribers will receive an email from us with details in the coming days.

Sincerely,

The DramaFever Team

Audience

[edit]

In 2013, DramaFever reported that over 80% of its estimated 3.5 million monthly viewers are non-Asian, and that the majority are young, urban and educated.[15]As of May 2014, newly added Spanish and Latin American content was expected to increase viewership among Hispanic users.[citation needed] As of May 2015, the website had around 8 millionmonthly active users.Females made up 65% of viewers, most significantly in the 18 to 34 age range.[3]

Partnerships

[edit]

In 2012, DramaFever sponsored The Supply Cup 2012, a charity soccer tournament hosted by YouTube personalities to benefit the non-profit organization The Supply, which helps build secondary schools in African slums to better provide greater possibilities for the next generation.

In 2011, Dramafever partnered withSan Diego Asian Film Festivalto present the first virtual on-demand Asian American film festival titled "DigiFest."[16]

In March 2010, DramaFever unveiled a partnership withHulu.[17]

DramaFever also made curated selections from its collection available on Netflix and iTunes. After their first week in the iTunes store, two popular Korean romantic comedies, "Boys Over Flowers"and"Heartstrings",broke the iTunes Top 200.[18]

Licensing

[edit]

DramaFever held licensing deals with all three of the major Korean TV networks:Seoul Broadcasting System,Korean Broadcasting System,andMunhwa Broadcasting Corporation.[19]It was the first website to work with all three South Korean content providers legally, and its partners represented over 60 of the top TV networks and production companies from China, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Argentina and Spain.[20]Other licensing partners includeArtear,CCTV,Imagina,RTVE,Sanlih E-Television,Shanghai Media GroupandTelefeamong others.[21]

Subscription offering

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Consumers could choose between a free or premium subscription. Registered subscribers could watch limited videos for free with commercials while premium subscribers watched without interruptions and in high definition. Users could register on the site or with their Facebook login.

A premium subscription cost $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year in the United States.[22]Content from Asia was available to the U.S., Canada and Latin America. Content from Latin America and Spain was only available to U.S. and Canada users due to international licensing agreements.[23]

DramaFever reportedly had over 400,000 paying subscribers by the time it was shut down in October 2018.[24]

Recognition

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On December 13, 2010, DramaFever was awarded the Korean Business of the Year Award by the Korean Creative Content Agency (KOCCA),Korean Cultural Centerand KoreanMinistry of Culture, Sports and Tourismfor its work showcasing Korean content in the U.S.[25]

DramaFever Awards

[edit]

In February 2013, DramaFever launched the first "Annual DramaFever Awards" honoring films, dramas, actors and actresses of the year through subscriber voting.[26]The ceremony for the 3rd Annual DramaFever Awards was sponsored byToyotaand was held at theHudson Theatrein New York City in February 2015.[27]The 4th Annual DramaFever Awards in 2016 received a total of 1, 889, 384 votes from users[28]and the 5th one received a total of 3,239,506 international votes.

The announcement of the winners in each category was accompanied by videos including fragments of the work of the nominees and a final segment showing the winner thanking for the award with a brief speech.

See also

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References

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  1. ^http://www.dramafever.com/company/media.html[permanent dead link]
  2. ^"Do you support my device?".DramaFever. December 4, 2013.RetrievedMay 3,2014.[dead link]
  3. ^abcJ.T. Quigley (May 22, 2015)."Post-acquistion [sic], DramaFever has more muscle to spread Asian entertainment to the West".Tech In Asia.RetrievedMay 22,2015.
  4. ^Digiday (2018-10-19)."'This is a big boy's game now': DramaFever is a casualty of the big-money OTT war ".Digiday.Retrieved2023-12-27.
  5. ^"Dramafever Set To Premiere First Original Co-productionThe Heirs".Hancinema.8 October 2013.Retrieved2014-02-03.
  6. ^"DramaFever co-produces Tomorrow's Cantabile with KBS".DramaFever.10 October 2014. Archived fromthe originalon 13 October 2014.Retrieved2014-10-16.
  7. ^Sun, Rebecca (10 October 2014)."DramaFever Unveils Its Second Korean Co-Production".The Hollywood Reporter.Retrieved2014-10-16.
  8. ^"Warner Bros. acquires video-on-demand service DramaFever".Los Angeles Times.2016-02-23.Retrieved2019-09-11.
  9. ^Son, Angela; Z, Nancy (2019-01-01)."Top 10 Korean Entertainment News of 2018".whatakdrama.Archived fromthe originalon 2019-12-03.Retrieved2019-12-11.
  10. ^Lopez, Matt (October 16, 2018)."WarnerMedia Shuts Down DramaFever Streaming Service".The Wrap.
  11. ^"DramaFever Launch Party".Hyphen Magazine. August 7, 2009. Archived fromthe originalon August 13, 2009.
  12. ^"Warner Bros. Acquires DramaFever, Plans to Launch Other OTT Services".Variety. February 23, 2016.
  13. ^"Warner Bros. to Acquire Korean Soap Opera Site DramaFever".The Wall Street Journal. February 23, 2016.
  14. ^"Thank you for nine great years".www.dramafever.com.Retrieved2019-09-11.
  15. ^"DramaFever Media Kit"(PDF).DramaFever.February 2013.RetrievedMay 3,2014.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^"First-ever DigiFest begins September 1".Asia Pacific Arts.2011-08-31. Archived fromthe originalon 2014-08-13.Retrieved2011-09-29.
  17. ^Korean TV dramas find new fans, outlets with online video, DramaFever Web site delivers shows via HuluWailin Wong, Chicago Tribune,May 17, 2010
  18. ^"Entertainment Heats Up Online for 50 Million U.S. Hispanics".PRNewswire. October 8, 2012.RetrievedMay 3,2014.
  19. ^SBS dramas at DramaFeverArchived2009-10-15 at theWayback MachineK-popped,October 11, 2009.
  20. ^Korean TV Hulu site for U.S.Archived2010-08-19 at theWayback MachineNew TeeVee,June 6, 2009.
  21. ^[1]DramaFever: About Us
  22. ^"DramaFever Premium".DramaFever Support Center.Retrieved5 January2015.[dead link]
  23. ^DramaFever FAQDramaFever
  24. ^"'This is a big boy's game now': DramaFever is a casualty of the big-money OTT war - Digiday ".Digiday.2018-10-19.Retrieved2018-11-03.
  25. ^2010 DARI Awards Honor Executives & Companies for Contributions toward Advancing Korean Content in the U.S.ArchivedDecember 24, 2010, at theWayback MachineKOCCA Official Website,December 14, 2010.
  26. ^"DramaFever 2012 Awards".www.dramafever.com.Retrieved2018-06-07.[permanent dead link]
  27. ^"Announcing the winners of the Third Annual DramaFever Awards!".DramaFever.Archived fromthe originalon 2015-02-09.Retrieved2016-06-28.
  28. ^"4th Annual DramaFever Awards".DramaFever.
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