K-drama industry finds new breakthrough with Netflix

A scene from "Stranger" (Secret Forest) / Courtesy of tvN

By Yun Suh-young

Korean drama producers are enjoying their second heyday with Netflix rising as their new prime purchaser instead of China.

Over the past year, Korean broadcasters have been suffering from a prolonged downturn from the Chinese market, which had been the biggest buyer of Korean dramas, due to the prohibition of Korean content by the Chinese government in retaliation of Korea's decision to deploy a THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system in the country. The political tension trickled over to the cultural sector, damaging business opportunities and cultural exchanges.

However, Netflix opened opportunities for Korean producers and broadcasters to sell their content to a wider global market.

TvN's popular series "Stranger" benefitted from Netflix's purchase of the 16-episode cable drama for $200,000 per episode. The series is simultaneously being aired on cable TV and Netflix and the latter purchased the series under the condition of being the sole global distributor to 190 countries, excluding Korea and China.

The purchase of this drama is highly dependent on the appearance of actress Bae Doo-na who is widely recognized overseas for her appearance in Netflix's original drama "Sense8" and other films by the Wachowski siblings.

OCN's new drama "Black" which will be aired later this year is also under negotiation with Netflix. The series features hallyu star Song Seung-heon and is written by Choi Ran who wrote "Whisper" which was remade into the American TV series "Somewhere Between."

The change in Netflix's business strategy also expanded opportunities for Korean producers. Netflix had initially demanded sole distribution rights for the content it purchased but now it agrees to the sale of its copyright to other distributors three months after Netflix ends streaming.

Netflix bought JTBC's "Man to Man" which was aired earlier this year at $350,000 per episode and also agreed with JTBC to sell the copyright of the content to overseas broadcasters, excluding streaming services such as Netflix, once the airing of the series ends on Netflix. The series features celebrity actor Park Hae-jin and reaped some benefits from the actor's popularity when Netflix's expansion in Thailand coincided with the purchase.

In the case of MBC's "Nightless City," aired in January, it was sold to Netflix after the series ended. For the Korean broadcaster, it was a breakthrough at a time when the Chinese market was blocked.

For smaller productions such as the web drama "My Only Love Song," Netflix became a basket of hope after the drama was blocked by China although it was produced for the Chinese market. Netflix bought its copyright.

For both Korean producers and Netflix, the sales and purchases amount to a win-win situation at a time when expansion into China is limited for Korea and expansion throughout Asia is crucial for Netflix. Netflix benefits from the popularity of Korean content in Asia while Korean broadcasters may be able to reap bigger profits from selling to Netflix than selling content separately to several countries.

Yet some producers say Korean broadcasters should be careful when signing contracts with Netflix which may require them to sell the global copyrights solely to Netflix and do this at a lower price than they could have negotiated.

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