What Happened to Dramafever? A Closer Look at the KDrama Crisis
Updated from original on October 16, 2018 at 7pm.
Last week a message began popping up on Dramafever accounts everywhere:
“New episodes have been postponed until a later date. Thank you for your patience.”
The message came without any warning or further explanation from any Dramafever news channel, leaving viewers of the Korean Drama streaming service with one massive question. What has happened to Dramafever?
Putting all our investigative skills to work, the journalists at DramaCurrent have gone on the hunt to find out the cause of our “Drama-pocalypse.” But the answers may only lead to more questions.
Please comment below with your thoughts on the delay of episodes at Dramafever. What are you doing to survive the “Drama-pocalypse?”
The Dramafever Buy-Out
In the beginning, Dramafever started out as a small start-up company founded by Seung Bak and Suk Park. It was a symbiotic partnership with Seung operating the US division and Suk handling the South Korean side. And after years of love, what started as a small-scale company with only a few dramas was able to grow into a multi-million dollar company with hundreds of programs.
However, the future of Dramafever soon took a major change. In mid-2016, Dramafever was purchased by Warner Brothers Digital labs, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. For a time the founders Bak and Park both continued to work with Warner Bros., but in March 2018 Seung Bak left his position and Patty Hirsch (former top exec. of Time Inc.) stepped in as the head of Warner Bros. Digital Networks.
AT&T Take Over and New Service
Fast forward two years and the plot thickens further. In June of 2018, AT&T acquired Warner Bros and all it’s programming services (ie. Dramafever.) By adding Warner Bros. to its growing collection of services (which includes DirecTV), AT&T became one of the largest television providers in the world.
At first, Dramafever did not seem to be affected by most of these changes and continued to proceed in the same way.
However this week AT&T gave Dramafever fans the shock of their lives. On October 10, 2018, AT&T announced that they will be launching their own streaming service in direct competition with Netflix. The service plans to be up by the end of 2019 and it is expected that it will absorb all their other streaming sites including, HBO, Boomerang, and, among others, Dramafever.
According to John Stankey, CEO of Warner “We expect financial support to launch this product to come from a combination of incremental efficiencies within the WarnerMedia operations, consolidating resources from sub-scale D2C efforts, fallow library content, and technology reuse…”
Translation? Dramafever (a sub-scale D2C) is going to be absorbed into the greater WarnerMedia giant.
So how does this affect Dramafever? Although frustrating in the short-term while Warner makes these changes, in the long-term the message is very positive for Korean Drama fans. By combining Dramafever’s programs into the larger, streaming service AT&T will make Korean Dramas more approachable and accessible to more viewers. Hopefully, more people will come to enjoy Korean Television and see it for the wonderful, feel-good TV we’ve always known it is.
Dramafever Comments?
Although most of the phone numbers for Dramafever have been disconnected, we were able to contact Suk Park directly. However, he regretted that he could not comment on the episode delay. Considering his high-level position at Dramafever, we at DramaCurrent have to wonder why.
As of right now, all representatives of Dramafever and Warner Bros. have declined to make a comment on the delay or when we can expect to see new episodes, so we can only guess the exact reason for the drama blackout. If we receive any new information we will let you know.
Update October 16, 2018
Update 10/16/2018 4pm: Warner Bros has officially announced that they will be discontinuing Dramafever.
“Today, Warner Bros. Digital Networks will be closing its DramaFever OTT service due to business reasons and in light of the rapidly changing marketplace for K-drama content, a staple of the service’s programming,” the company said in a statement. “Warner Bros. Digital Labs, which encompasses more than two-thirds of the DramaFever workforce, will continue operating, serving as the tech engine behind many of WBDN’s operations.”
As we suspected before, the AT&T buy-out and the financial issues involved are the main causes. According to Variety, one source familiar with Dramafever says the main reason is licensing costs. Although, we have to wonder whether AT&T would have needed to cut costs so drastically if they weren’t trying to build a streaming service.
It is the end of an era. Goodbye, Dramafever. We will miss you forever.
Update 10/16/2018 7pm: Dramafever is officially gone. The KDrama streaming service gave us this last message:
Read More:
- Viki weighs in on the end of Dramafever
- What Will Happen to Dramafever’s Dramas? The Rescue of KDrama Begins
Please let us know below your thoughts about the end of Dramafever. What are you doing to survive the “Drama-pocalypse?”
Drama Unni
Drama Unni is a Korean Entertainment Journalist and blogger based out of the US. She enjoys late night kdrama binges with her two dogs. Email: unni@dramacurrent.com
113 Comments
Melanie
What?!?!?! This is shocking.
Donna waddle
What about our money we paid to watch with out all the ads. Do we get it back? Not fair.
MM
I had the same question. I paid for the year.
LA Red
Welp, it’s shut down now. This sucks.
ritawhitaker66
I am BEYOND pissed!! I have HBO and I will now get rid of it and any other AT&T crap I’ve got. I can’t believe they shut it down!!! Screw AT&T and Warner media!!
Juli
You are killing me!!! I want my money back!!! 🖕🖕
NewKDra
What is truly offending is that they continued to collection subscriptions! Mine was on a yearly basis! I’ve paid for a year and it was just last month!! No, I won’t be joining the AT&T family.
ianwelling@yahoo.com
Whaaaat? I was in the middle of an episode when that message popped up. I am soooo pissed!
Golda Israel
me, too!
Charmaine Hopkin
I wish they had put out butter notice of closing. I was on the 10th episode of a series when the notice came up.
Benedita Felipe
I paid my premium monthly until November 3, and I believe that, like me, thousands of customers also paid in advance. If I had known that Dramafever would close the doors, I would have migrated to VIKI in early October. It seems that Dramafever deceived his customers. Shame on you.
Debbie Hall
Not dramafevers’ fault, but the crappy at&t monopoly. . I hope at&t realizes in their reorganization that money cannot buy customer satisfaction, those greedy mongers. I will miss dramafever as the Asian movies are so much better than those made in America…
DramaFeverFan
Amen to that Debbie! After watching K Drama, I stopped watching American sitcoms and dramas. Too much cat fights a raunchy sex scenes. I will miss Dramafever. I will surely stop buying At&t products including cancelling my cell phone service.
무지개Minseo
I don’t completely agree because the founders of DramaFever sold out to a massive company. They knew very well what might happen. Also look at Glassdoor for reviews of working at DramaFever and it’s a nightmare. Including accusations of sexual harassment that weren’t followed up on. People on Glassdoor were making predictions 2 years ago that it would close. However, AT&T are horrible.
Rosalinda Leizan
I am really really upset. I not fair the way they cancel everything. They should be more considerate to the fans that been supporting Dramafever since the beginning. They should announced what will pap pen and give alternative so the fans can make arrangements to continue watch their dramas. And for the subscriptions what can you expect. I will miss DramaFever.😢☹️
Evangelia Theos
They just took a yrs subscrition from me and they sgut down??? How can we get our money back?? This is total bs
Golda Israel
I was just came back from the washroom to a paused Strong Woman Do Bong Soon episode and that last message popped up! I couldn’t play the episode anymore. I am shock to be honest. I can’t watch Kdramas and Cdramas anymore then? Do I have to subscribe to Viki from now on? I had to go to google to see if that last message was for real and I saw this article. It is for real. no!!!!!!!!
Andrea
if you have Netflix that show is there
Renee Ksnp
THEY DO HAVE THAT ONE ON NETFLIX… however I am never going to find out what happens to joy…
Sarah Lorraine
Netflix’s translations are the worst though.
Maya
OMG I am in the middle of an episode when the massage popped up. I am SO MAD #pissed
Renee Ksnp
me to I was watching Are you Human
Debbie Hall
Oh Renee! I hope you can try viki/rakuten for that drama! Or AsianFever. Good luck!
becca
boycott ATT! This is bs
Debbie Hall
If you try to boycott, they’ll probably raise your uverse fees. . Lol
susan
This could get real ugly. I don’t think they fully realized…
Tammy
I am in the middle of several shows that are NOT on other streaming services!!! Furious!!!
genealogysearcher
AT&T is a horrible company. Cancelled my land line phone with them about 15 years ago. I haven’t done business with AT&T since. I paid a subscription to Dramafever for a year in June. Probalby won’t see a refund from AT&T though. I was watching Kill Me, Heal Me and the episode just stopped and the message popped up about the service shutting down. I have been a suscriber since it started 9 years ago. I have watched nearly 300 drama’s on Dramafever. Dramafever you will be missed.
Tiffany R Weatherly
I am so pissed, this is not right to blind side paying customers! I just paid for my premium membership. 😡😠😢
Boycotting AT&T
glenda seaver
Im not to happy right now.thats all i do is binge watch drama shows after work at nite& enjoy them.And now u took my entertainment away..So sad..PLZ BRING IT BACK..
perry808
Yes, please bring it back
Alethia Douglass
So upset…most of my dramas were on that app…did dideven get the chance to write down my pending dramas titles..no warning…no consideration…upset!!
perry808
UPSET THAT WE WEREN’T GIVEN ANY WARNING!
Tonie Trevizo
Darn
BENEDITA FELIPE
One other thing. My intention is to migrate to VIKI. As I began to watch a series of new dramas in Dramafever, before making any payment for VIKI I checked the list of shows of the channel and to my surprise I discovered that one of the series that I began to follow on dramafever – “Terius Behin Me”, with So Ji Sub – is not available in my region- Brazil. How is this possible??? It’s such a hassle, I’m thinking seriously it’s worth re-signing Netflix and watching the Asian series over there.
Glorimar
just three days ago I renew my subscription, i want my money back, im so pissed off, Ive been a loyal Dramafever user since the very beginning!!
jasminecomblog
I’m sad. There were so many dramas and movies that I wanted to watch and now I won’t be able to. I was gonna watch The Lover (it had BL elements to it), and a bunch of other dramas too. This sucks. When will we know about this supposed new streaming service?
Milana Murillo
They need to refund everyone… They just posted to my accout today. That is dirty business.
Deborah
this is ridiculous, just paid my subscription for a year and you cancel in the middle of programming!! AT&T seems to always manage to screw up everything, first it was my phone service and now this
ESTHER MARTINEZ
I am really upset. I really loved dramafever.. like so much more than Viki. AT&T is BS!! Never will I suscribe to them..ughh… This is such a let down honestly.
Ray Jewel
Im crying!
Christina
I will miss you DramaFever!
KDramaMama
OMG!!!!!!! I am DramaFever. I don’t even watch anything else!!!!! Thank you AT&T for ruining my one joy in life.😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
Andrea
this sudden shut down without notice feels like a break up without closure especially if you are in a middle of a series watching. such a rude move!
Santiago María
Es injusto que hayan hecho esto aunque haya cambiado de dueño esto hubiera seguido igual entonces porque hicieron una encuesta lo extrañaré tendré que ver a Netflix e ir con Viki yo no puedo quedarme así me sacaban de mi mundo real y estresado mundo que hoy 😭😭
Diana
Wait… WHAT!? what about my money!? Did our accounts got cancelled or do we have to do it ourselves? This is unacceptable!
Trizay808
this is so devastating! you guys really shattered my heart. why would you do this? I need my drama fever!
Simona
#RIPDRAMAFEVER you were AMAZAING while you lasted.. so many hours spent watching KDrama’s 😩😢🇰🇷
쉴라
Dude! My favorite dramas 😢 I didn’t even finish watching them 😢😢😢
Maria
I’m sooo sad and mad how will I watch my kdramas??? What else is there beside viki? They don’t have my show beauty inside!
Antonia Firnges
I was watching a few dramas and I have no idea WTH they were or where I was at! I watch so many on different websites no way can I keep them straight! A little heads up would have been nice to your loyal customers so we could have started keeping track of where we were at in episodes! I hate big companies they don’t care about their customers just the bottom line! Now that Korean culture is blowing up in America everybody is going to be jumping on the bandwagon hiking up prices and ruining the experience for fans. I am really angry.
Jessica
Boycotting AT&T and moving onto Viki. #RIPDramafever
Surusa
But they charged my card and then shut down!! Those SOBs!!!
Jocelyn
I’m pissed AF! How are you going to take my money then shut down mid month? It’s not like they didn’t know about this at the begginging if the month! But they still took our money! This is some BS! I will be taking my coin else where! Thanks Viki for staying true to your users!
bbstl
I hope that TvN, OCN and Korean production companies left in the lurch by this Warner Bros/ATT decision to ditch dramafever overnight will remember it when they come calling in late 2019 with their new streaming service and tell them to get stuffed. In the meantime, let’s all be sure to pick up Viki/Kocowa, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu and support all their Korean content so they can justify buying more of it. That way it won’t be there for ATT to buy when they want it.
Debbie Hall
Amen!!
AUGUSTINA DRIZ
Nooooo this is not real…. it can’t be my Cdramas, my Kdramas some of them are not complete yet (pending)…. and I just paid my premium too wahhhh….. I guess I’m going to Viki from now on bummer…..
Debbie Hall
That was a truly sucking move, AT&T. Truly stupid. Love forever, dramafever!! RIP.
Suzette Phuong
Leave it to the American companies to F*** Sh** up!!! Always trying to take over everything and ruin it for everyone!!!! That app and company were perfect. I’m am so upset. DramaFever was life!!! I haven’t watched American television in many years. This was quality television compared to the American crap they watch. There has to be an upcoming solution!?!?!?
jazzlikebutterscotch
Exactly! That was the entire reason why I canceled cable and went straight to Dramafever. I am so over every single time I turn on American TV I see a damn Kardashian.
Katreina full
Man this sucks. Where can I watch 100 Days my prince, Age of legends which was getting really good, ten mile blossom, Devlish joy, third charm now. viki doesn’t have these shows. I so disappointed.
upset
I joined the site when it was still in beta in like mid/late 2008 early 2009 before it was fully released and have stayed loyal to it in part because its subbers were paid, rather than volunteers (not that volunteers are bad – sometimes they’re better actually! just, at least people were getting paid for their work, i thought), and partly because of the vast collection they’d acquired over time.
It’s honestly so irritating as well as pretty heartbreaking to just have the site suddenly shutdown with no prior notice. It’s even more infuriating that so many of us, myself included, had our auto-pay renewals go through shortly before they just locked everything up. My card was charged less than 24 hours before they did this, which would be unfathomable almost anywhere else. :\
GGHIE
I will miss dramafever, but Nope to AT&T! They’re sucks! I will continue to watch kdrama on Viki. I’m just sad that the dramafever is completely shut down😢😢
Pissed off k-drama lover
I JUST GOT CHARGED FOR THE YEAR!!! THEIVES!! I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!
musedink
me too
merilyn Feliciano
Terious where I’m going to see you and my 100 day Prince
Candice Force
Go to Kissasian.se. you can watch for free.
musedink
kseries.net, I asked the same thing luckily I saw that someone shared this link before they put up that gastly message and zero warning of what was happening
Weirdcutie
I have been a subscriber since first discovering dramafever the winter of 09. It has been my favorite source of entertainment and I’ve binged countless shows so I’m just furious for losing a big part of my daily destresser. I don’t want another streaming service, just my dramas back
Candice Force
I had contacted their help desk and about the 2 missing episodes for The Third Charm. They blamed delayed broadcasting to to holidays in Korea and told they would up yesterday. So much for that.. I better be getting money back on my Premium subscription
Sawdatou
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️screw AT&T and warnes I don’t like Americans séries bring back our DramaFever 😭😭😭😭😭wtf
Sarah Lorraine
What the hecking heck! DF was my go-to sub for all things kdrama. I have a sub to Netflix and Hulu as well but stuck to DF for my kdrama due to the better translations/subs. Screw AT&T, won’t sub to the new absorption services when it comes out! Also won’t be opting for HBO Go anymore either.
Donna
I too had paid yearly and was in the middle of a show. I never saw anything to inform me Drama Fever was going away until tonight when I couldn’t get on to watch. I loved Drama Fever! This was the one place I could easily find all my shows and new ones without a very long search. I am sad and disappointed. RIP Dramafever, I will miss you!
M
This saddens me deeply. AT&T has a long standing history of treating theor nonwhite employees like crap and I have no desire In supporting that company. It’s ki d of ironic…Dramafever being absorbed by such a company.
Francine Yagi
I want to knowhow could they be so brainless as to do this without giving prior notice!!!! So sickening!!!!!
April Michele Choi
Does anyone know who is streaming the beauty inside
Joanna Newton
I’m really upset about this. I pay an annual subscription with DF and Viki. No prior announcement, no emails about refunds or transfers of subscriptions 😡
Free streaming service – has Terrius and 100 Day Husband.
http://m.newasiantv.ch/
Washington Reis
Not real please, my wish list and worst the exclusives.No
Elizabeth Slaughter
WOW, I was literally int the middle of watching a show when this happened. I get what they eventually want to do but why couldn’t they wait until they actually have the new streaming service in place to shut down DramaFever? Just shutting it off with no warning was cruel and a good way to ensure I will NEVER subscribe to their new streaming platform.
Esta
Like a lot of you, I’m hoping for a refund of my yearly subscription which they took two months ago. I already subscribe to Viki, but they don’t carry a lot of the shows that DramaFever had. Maybe they’ll find their way over?
Lyd
I am so sad! It feels like a best friend has moved away suddenly with with no contact info, only a note to say goodbye. 😭😡😠😟💔
Dee
I am beyond upset. Why companies wait till last minute to inform customers especially ones who have be loyal for years and subscribers. Because it’s a business we were paying for services that made you money or profit in that business therefore we should not been treated as an afterthought. Now ATT will have a new service and what we would have to get their cable, internet, and other services to get a better price no thank you. It sad because Of the current show watching on there, now have to search where I can find episode cause supposedly exclusive to DramaFever.
Jennifer Gutzman
I was in complete shock when the notice suddenly appeared! I have been exclusively watching DF for years. Not a good way to transition AT&T!
Washington Reis
Really not a good start.
Tonya
How could they shut down DramaFever!!! Do they have any idea how much so many relied on DramaFever to bring us our favorite Asian dramas??!!! And to do it so suddenly with no notice!! And without giving us a good reason!! If they needed to raise the rates, then raise them and at least give us a choice whether or not to continue to subscribe! Don’t just yank it out from under us when so many of us were mid-episode mid-series and now have no idea where to watch them. If they think this is going to make us watch their American shows, you are greatly mistaken. The content of American shows is offensive to me and not something I want to watch.
Way too much violence and sex and lack of good examples of manners and respect. Asian dramas are clean and enjoyable. I am greatly upset and very disappointed! #BringBackDramaFever
Dee
“Way too much violence and sex and lack of good examples of manners and respect.”
Those are my exact complaints about current Hollywood shows. Even when the characters say “Sorry”, it’s backhanded and with the expectation of being forgiven. Forgiveness is not automatic. The characters should not do mean stuff and they wouldn’t need to say Sorry. Not all DF shows are on Viki and Netflix. This shutdown has left a hole in our daily lives.
Ebunoluwa Okunade
Ok so what happens to my 1 year subscription it’s not even 4 months yet. I need my money back. This is not how you do business no email was so as to inform us that pay of how the money would be given back to us. This is just not right
SG
Unbelievable! Huge fan of DramaFever and all the K-drama shows. Was in the middle of a series, too. Will be searching for a new K-drama site and writing letters to Warner/AT&T. Anyone have the correct email addresses??
Denice Walker
I’ve always said ATT is just to greedy! I’m cutting them loose after “Game of Thrones” final season but then maybe earlier and buy the final season.
teleriferchnyfain
These corporate turds REALLY think we will just patiently wait and buy their much more expensive streaming service after this? I think not! Really good news for VIKI & Netflix…
#bringbackdramafever https://www.change.org/p/petition-for-dramafever-to-come-back
RG
Horribly irresponsible. If they are going to do a streaming service, why not keep this until they are ready to integrate kdramas into the rest of the service? If it was about money, why not give people the opportunity to pay a little more to keep it? Why on earth would you acquire a beloved, functioning service, only to flush it down the toilet? And with no warning whatsoever. Such a STUPID move. People aren’t going to wait around for a year. They’re watching dramas RIGHT NOW, and they are going to go elsewhere. Competitors, illegal streaming sites… Sign me up with their competitors, because any trust I may have had is gone.
Hilary
Please Please bring back Drama Fever!!! Best shows ever.
Montranique Adams
I’m so heartbroken 😞
Jane Shi
I have enjoyed KDramas for years now thru Dramafever and it is really saddening to see it literally disappear overnight. I hope AT&T brings it back even under a different name.
Megan
Great so now you officially cut off those who cannot get at&t services such as their cable or direct tv cause of “territory contracts”! Wow thanks, nice to know that if I want something I have to move into a “contracted territory “ in order to watch what AT&T bought out. My sources on the territory crap came from both AT&T and Spectrum (aka: TimeWarnerCable) who both said could not service my area cause of these “territory contracts”. Might as well just stick to YouTube while it still lives!
Ramon
All Dramafever fans should at a minimum make SURE they cancel or move all services away from AT&T.
Dalia
I have been paying for years. I need a liver transplant and because of DramaFever Is all I watch. Make me happy to be in this site. I want my money back!!! I will cancel all AT&T services. I will ask my kids to do so too!
Daysi
Viki works just as good now is even better than drama fever
Daysi
Where is my refund?
Although I always liked Dramafever in recent weeks or month the quality of the transaction was not there. Viki was lagging behind In The past and I found myself more and more going to VIKI for shows instead of Dramafever. After reading this article and the different take overs it makes sense as to why the product was not the same quality as I. The past… now I want my refund.
Cristina
I don’t understand why they couldn’t let us know or give us some time to finish the dramas we were watching. I would also have happily paid more. I like Viki but its just not as easy to browse and they dont have many of the shows I was watching. I’m really heartbroken. I would have loved to have copied my watchlist that was years in the making. I’m so angry with this situation and AT&T is the only internet/cable provider at my address so I can’t even boycott but I will give as much as I can to Viki and Kocowa. I have to find some way to finish watching Are You Human Too…I’m so sad!
Rochelle Williams
They haven’t earned an ounce of goodwill from Drama Fever customers with this move. My family will be switching to Viki, and as of now, I have no interest in signing up for their streaming platform. We paid for 1 year in January. So far I have not been refunded. There was no warning this was going to happen, no alternative solution is offered, the AT&T platform is not ready to use. So, no thanks. Netflix and Viki it is, and we will not be switching over.
Dudie
This is pretty bad news actually as this will make it harder for Viki to survive against the new giant. And without Viki, Kdrama fans who live outside the US, are pretty much screwed. Yes we have netflix still but they don’t offer the same content as they do in the US due license restrictions so Viki is kind of the only good option for a Dutch Kdrama fan like me.
Yam Snikpoh
I just found out, this is like the very worst thing ever. It was the only place I could still watch my favorite K-Drama (Bad Guy from 2010) and now its gone forever, no one sells it, no-one else streams or shows it, its gone forever. (>_<)/ Nooooooo!
bootsie5
Anyone who just had there credit card charged in the last week should try and contact their credit card company and cancel the charge and site that they did not receive product and your bank should refund you the money.
I have also joined Viki because of Dramafever shut down. Also, check Youtube for 100 days my prince. I just found episodes 11 and 12 with English subtitles, but do it fast before these episodes are removed. 🙂
Gitanna
It means it will be more expensive
Pink
Where can I watch, ‘Are you Human?’
Karen LN
ok this is a workaround for you guys but sadly no more episodes will be added and you have to pay a little extra…. so dramafever has a contract with VRV streaming service and my daughter uses this and one of the channels is dramafever. its $10 a month and you get a bunch of channels something along the lines of 10 to 12 channels I just watch an episode from dramafever. you can check and see if you can pay for just that channel. also I did get a money back for the yearly subscription yesterday and that is how I found out about dramafever.
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무지개Minseo
But how much longer will VRV be showing DramaFever? Not long I bet. Plus we would be giving more money to AR&T the monsters that did this. Also a lot of the issue is that our watch lists are gone.
RaeKyeong Kim
Dramafever was the only official platform who provided Portuguese or Spanish subtitles for some kdramas in middle of airing. So sad to see all those Insta comments from south America fans looking for a place to continue to watch them. I even had someone explaining to me she was happy to watch kdramas with her family but now as they can’t follow English subtitles… Those companies left down a whole subcontinent kdramas fans !
Angie Joy
Decision makers in warner brothers do Not care or appreciate about asian dramas. They have some bias I think.
Big Let Down!!
Shahzad Balouch
What this is insane !!!!
Angela Webb
All I want to say is AT&T – You F–KING SUCK. Time Warner YOU DO TOO!!!!