K-dramas Via Smartphone: The Growth Of Korean Web Shows

Sometimes you think you've seen it all in a K-drama. But then, just when you're sure all the potential plotlines have been explored, an alien lover or a long-lost grandfather comes along, and boom! Just like that, another K-drama classic is born.

It's clear K-dramas aren't going anywhere. But as more young people become addicted to video content and their mobile devices, drama creators are changing the way they introduce K-dramas to the world.

Traditionally the path goes something like this: major TV network pays experts to develop a carefully chosen series, recruits as many high-profile actors as it can, works out a (usually massive) budget for filming and production, and then spends more on mass marketing campaigns to get every Korean family to sit down and watch the show.

That's still happening at all the major networks, but recently web dramas have been playing a more important role in the Korean entertainment industry. 2014 saw several new web dramas hit the scene. The two biggest, 'After School: Lucky or Not' and 'Aftermath,' featuring ZE:A's Kim Dongjun, gained a huge mainstream popularity, with both getting millions of viewers in a matter of days and second seasons.

It's not just small stars or networks trying to get a start on the web -- 2NE1's Dara will be the lead on an upcoming Korean-Chinese web drama for Naver, and KBS just launched a web drama portal that allows users to watch the web dramas it has produced via smartphone apps, according to a press release from the company. Eventually, the company said it hopes the portal can serve as a destination for viewers looking for a variety of web dramas from other smaller companies, as well.

The advantages are clear. Web dramas are significantly cheaper to produce, allowing producers to take more risks and potentially have a much bigger payoff if the show gets big.

It also gives writers and producers the chance to create with a slightly different formula.

South Korea is known for having a young population that is hooked on their gadgets, and many web dramas are catered to the crowd that uses a 10-minute window between class or a 15-minute subway ride to take in a video or two.

"If you visit Korea, you will see how people are glued to the small screen on subways or in cafes," said Sora Park, professor in the News & Media Research Centre of the University of Canberra, who has experience working in and consulting with South Korea media companies. "The level of video consumption is very high in Korea both at home and on the go."

Whereas TV drama creators want to make shows that will be universally appealing, web drama producers understand that it will be mainly young people watching their shows on smartphone or tablet screens, so they have more freedom to play a little out of normal bounds. They don't have to stick to guidelines about length (the show doesn't have to fit into TV's neat half-hour window), advertiser complaints (since it's much cheaper to produce, they don't have to rely as much on ads), or worry about a storyline being too racy for Grandma.

It's probably not coincidental that the two biggest web dramas of 2014, 'After School: Lucky or Not' and 'Aftermath' both featured high-school age stars in out-of-the-ordinary situations.

The major downside, of course, is audience size.

"The drawback is that it is hard to get the eyeballs via conventional marketing methods and they need to diversify how they reach their targeted audience and advertisers," Park told KpopStarz.

It's too early for K-drama fans to toss their TVs. But there's a clear spirit of innovation and disruption in the television market, especially as Hallyu expands and global viewers want in on the K-drama fun, said Park, meaning drama fans can only look forward to more quality web content.

"It's such a competitive market," Park noted. "Cable channels, terrestrial broadcasters, production companies, movie producers, Internet companies, and telecom companies all compete for the same advertisers and paid subscribers. Because the export trend is on the rise, they are willing to invest."

Tags
K Drama
Web Drama
Naver
KBS
smartphone
Dara
Kim Dongjun
ZE:A
Aftermath
After School: Lucky or Not
hallyu
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