Viki weighs in on the end of Dramafever
More than 24 hours have passed since Dramafever suddenly disappeared, and many fans are still left to wonder what this means for their beloved Korean Dramas. Will the end of Dramafever also be the end for KDramas as we know them? Your beloved reporters at DramaCurrent reached out to Viki.com and they have given us a message of hope.
Please comment below with your thoughts about the end of Dramafever. What are you doing to cope with the KDrama crisis?
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Viki Weighs in
Although it feels like Dramafever has left us with nothing (or even less, if you already purchased their subscription,) the truth is that KDrama viewers worldwide still have one friend on their side. Viki.com, now one of the few providers of subtitled Korean Dramas in the world, has given us an important message for fans everywhere.
This afternoon we spoke with Clara Kim from the Communications Department at Viki. She said:
“Here at Rakuten Viki, as a company that values and understands the passionate K-drama community worldwide, we are saddened by the sudden news of DramaFever shutting down. K-drama holds a truly special place in all of our hearts, and we stand fully committed behind our Soompi and Viki platforms and our incredible fans to continue providing the best of Korean dramas, variety shows and other international entertainment to our global fandom.”
In a second email Miss Kim added:
“Thank you for being an awesome K-drama fan and supporting us at Viki and Soompi. Please remember that we are a company of fans just like you, and we remain committed in our mission to continue providing more Asian TV and movies on viki.com.
Onward we go. Fighting!”
We are especially encouraged by Miss Kim’s comment that Viki is “committed in…providing more Asian TV and movies,” since that is exactly what all of us are hoping for right now — the return of our lost dramas.
DramaCurrent is currently awaiting word from additional Viki execs. We will update here with more news as we find out, so be sure to check back later.
Although the crisis at Dramafever has many of us feeling depressed and uncertain, this is not the end for Korean Dramas. Viki has promised to remain our faithful KDrama friend.
If you are interested in purchasing a subscription, Viki is offering 30% off of their Annual Standard Pass until 10/30/2018
Please comment below with your thoughts about the end of Dramafever. What are you doing to cope with the KDrama crisis?
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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
16 Comments
jasminecomblog
Viki is probably the only shining light we have at this point.
The KThree Jenn
thanks for keeping us informed!!
charinthebarn
I’m sure that Viki’s loyal & passionate subbers have helped keep down the costs of the streaming site. I read in Variety that licencing a drama for american streaming can be over $800,000. Yikes. Viki…pwighting!
Mini Mena
So, now Viki needs to get the licencing for all the new dramas DF finally had. I have both subscriptions because they don’t have all of the same shows.
Tonya
I have been both a DramaFever and Viki subscriber for years because they each have dramas the other doesn’t. I hope Viki adds more currently airing shows such as 100 Days my Prince. I’d be willing to pay a bit more now that I’m no longer paying for a DramaFever subscription.
Frann S Anderson
I hope this opens opportunities for Viki that allows licenses for dramas that were exclusively on Drama Fever such as The Beauty Inside. Also hope Viki is able to return to apps that allow viewing on Smart TV (Samsung). I have a subscription to both Viki and Drama Fever (well DID) but the draw with Drama Fever was watching dramas on TV which was really important to my wife who is mostly home bound and only watched K-Dramas. Onward Viki! Fighting!
bahdoo
Thank you so much! Great update!
Adrian Douglas
I’m so disappointed right now…been a subscriber of Dramafever since 2011 and Viki since 2013….Viki is our only shining light now…I just hope these big companies and costs won’t force Viki to close it’s doors as well …
Ann
I have been a subscriber to both Dramafever and Viki. I enjoy KDramas because they provide pure entertainment. While I was happy to see dramas begin popping up on Netflix and Amazon, I also realized that would change things – perhaps not for the better. It seems to me that Dramafever was swallowed up in one bite by a corporation that didn’t appreciate its value. The content may become available again through their new streaming service, but it will be lacking the support system drama fans enjoy that brings a sense of community. Viki and Dramafever promote dramas – their sites provide more than just a thumbnail to click and watch a show by yourself. So many fans seem to enjoy commenting as they watch and responding to others – making it a “shared” experience. (I lack the multi-tasking skills to get that done, but sometimes I enjoyed seeing the comments stream by as I watched parts of a drama I was a little angsty about) It is a shame to lose that! They say “dance with the one that brung you,” so I will continue to support Viki.
AFG
remember mysoju.com? remember how DF had it shut down? can we bring that back please, and erase this horrible DF taste from our mouth with soju…
mary
thank you for keeping us posted. now will there be a problem with subbers on viki when they get the new programs and all, and as for me I am a viki subscriber. but really is distressing news about DF! 9 years wow!
Macarena
Yes, I have so too Viki please add 100 days my prince, The Beauty Inside, The Third Charm, & Devilish Joy, & My ID Is Gangnam Beauty.
NewKDramaAddict
Lots of long time subscribers of DF are furious! As a business, it was totally improper of them to just drop/shut the doors without a proper good-bye. Good to hear that Viki will continue to be around and yes, benefit from DF’s incredible stupidness. Adios, DramaFever, hello my true friend Viki!!
afg
totally agree. i feel like Warner Brothers are going to end up rolling these services into some other streaming service and i’m already prepared to say ‘no thanks’. i don’t subscribe to any other paid services except Viki and DF, and if WB had at least given some notice and maybe offered loyal subscribers some sort of incentive to sign up for some other more expensive streaming option (which i’m sure is in the works) i would have least considered it. but who wants to sign up with some shifty company? who is making these stupid business decisions? my ten year old could have managed this better.
dawn
WB and ATT can go you know where. Can’t stand them and this is just more proof positive they do not care about anything but the bottom dollar.
Rob San
Viki has made a lot of unpopular choices as well in the last 2-4 years. Viki makes money off their volunteers and has consistently asked us to do more for the free subscription if you volunteer like I do. While I still volunteer, I don’t as much because the few cheap perks that we got have been increasingly less. I fear that viki will go the way of dramafever if volunteers stop. They save tons on those of us that do free subtitling, editing and making segments so that subtitles can be placed on the screen. I hope I’m wrong, but even volunteers need a little encouraging rewards considering that they save millions on the free volunteering. Also, the segmenting subtitling and editing is far superior than dramafever’s subtitles because often there are brief cultural explanations. I had both because of the licensing issues but with dramafever the segment ting was often poor and so you would get subtitles that didn’t sync with the dialog. Don’t see that as much on viki. Most volunteers take pride in their segmenting and subtitling. Plus you have checks by other volunteers to make sure dialog is correct and culturally sound. You get a wonderful flavor of the various Asian and and Hispanic cultures that way. The problem with viki is that sometimes subtitles take a day to do and paying customers don’t want to wait. Even so, the popular dramas are subtitles very fast and often in 10+ languages within 1-3 days.