Riding the K-Romance Wave into Asia: Japanese Dramas Grow 32% and Chinese Dramas 21% on Viki [BCWW 2026]

[Financial News] Global viewers’ interest, which began with K-dramas, is spreading across Asian content as a whole. An analysis of users of global OTT platform Rakuten Viki found that 75% of subscribers are non-Asian. While K-content remains popular, viewing figures for Japanese, Chinese, and Southeast Asian content posted double-digit growth.

Hong Jae Hee, Chief Content Officer of Rakuten Viki’s content business and head of its Korean office, presented trends in Viki’s content consumption and a strategy to expand co-productions at Session 6 of ‘BCWW 2026,’ held at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center in Seoul on the 15th. The session was titled ‘New Growth Drivers for K-Dramas: Rakuten Viki and Production Companies’ Collaboration Model, “Dive into You.”’
Rakuten Viki offers more than 2,500 Asian titles in over 190 countries and territories worldwide. Its biggest differentiator is that it has grown beyond simply distributing content overseas: fans actively participate, communicate, and build a community around the content. In particular, Viki operates a participatory community where fans create subtitles in more than 150 languages and share their reactions through reviews.
Hong said, "MZ-generation viewers account for an overwhelming proportion of Viki users," adding, "Contrary to expectations that Asian viewers would make up the majority, non-Asian viewers account for as much as 75%."
K-romantic comedies remain Viki’s strongest genre. Hong said, "Romantic comedies account for half of total viewing," adding, "Given that many dramas combine multiple genres, the actual share of romance content is more than half."
Non-romance dramas, including action, regression stories, and fantasy, have also been showing broad growth recently. He said, "Viki viewers appear to particularly favor cathartic action titles that combine humor with a light, fast-paced storyline."
Viewing preferences varied by region. U.S. viewers showed a strong tendency to consume a broad range of new releases rather than limit themselves to a particular genre. Hong noted, "Recently, in North America, interest has been growing not only in romance but also in genre-driven content with strong entertainment value, such as satisfying revenge dramas, thrillers, and comedies, as well as high-quality Korean films." The presentation also featured ‘The King’s Warden,’ a film that surpassed 10 million admissions this year, as a key example.
Viewers in Latin America, including Brazil and Mexico, were found to actively explore not only Korean and Chinese dramas but also Japanese and Thai dramas and variety shows. Hong explained, "Latin American audiences are also highly receptive to historical dramas and BL/GL genres, and unlike North American viewers, they continue to show strong affection for library titles." He added, "The fandom’s openness to discovering new Asian content is an important characteristic."
France was identified as a market with adventurous and experimental viewing preferences. Hong said, "French viewers are highly receptive to culturally diverse stories and also show interest in specialized areas such as LGBTQ content and animation."

The interest that began with K-dramas is spreading across Asian content as a whole.
Hong explained, "Compared with the same period last year, viewing of Chinese dramas grew 21%, Japanese dramas 32%, and Southeast Asian content 21%. K-dramas remain Viki’s most powerful content category, but global fans’ choices are expanding across Asia."
He emphasized, "In the past, Korean dramas and romance were Viki’s primary growth drivers. Now, Viki is helping viewers around the world build awareness of and affinity for Asian content as a whole." He added, "Connecting diverse Asian content with global fandoms is the direction Viki seeks to pursue."
Rakuten Viki is now expanding its collaboration beyond content distribution into co-production and production investment.
Hong stated, "Depending on the scale and characteristics of each project, we want to pursue various collaboration models, including advance commissioning, co-production, production investment, and joint projects with the Korea Creative Content Agency."
‘My Boss’ Explicit Taste,’ scheduled to air in November, is an example of a project developed in consultation with the production company from the original development stage. Rakuten Viki arranged for its licensing fee to be used toward part of the production budget. ‘Dive into You,’ which will be released on Disney+, Rakuten Viki, and Channel A on the 26th, is Rakuten Viki’s first project in which it directly participated in the investment and production of a K-drama.
[email protected] Shin Jin Ah Reporter