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Global audience demand for streaming Asian movies, series grows with hits like Squid Game
PUBLISHED SUN, MAY 28 20238:00 AM EDTUPDATED TUE, MAY 30 20239:53 PM EDT
Rakuten Viki, a streaming service owned by Japanese ecommerce giant Rakuten, has seen a surge in growth in recent years across various Asian language content.
The company said its registered user base grew by 27% globally in 2022, leading the streamer to increase its investment in content by 17% that year. Korean content remains the majority of what is consumed on the service, but viewership for Japanese, Chinese and Thai-language shows increased, too.
Karen Paek, vice president of marketing at Rakuten Viki, said in an interview that while the company has been in the Asian entertainment space for more than 10 years, it’s recently seen a growing interest and passion around the world for its shows, which are mostly licensed.
“For Viki specifically, we have been seeing a shift in terms of the ethnic makeup of our viewership toward non-Asians,” Paek said. “But at the same time, the whole audience size is growing.”
Paek said the streamer sees a boost in registered viewers and viewership in general when hits like “Squid Game” hit the mainstream.
The user base for Rakuten Viki has been so passionate that the subtitles for much of its content are actually generated by a volunteer community around the world. Its content is mainly produced and created in Asian countries, although the service licenses hits like “The Farewell,” especially during Asian American Pacific Islander month, for its U.S. audience.
www.cnbc.com/2023/05/28/...reaming-asian-movies-tv-grows.html
PUBLISHED SUN, MAY 28 20238:00 AM EDTUPDATED TUE, MAY 30 20239:53 PM EDT
Rakuten Viki, a streaming service owned by Japanese ecommerce giant Rakuten, has seen a surge in growth in recent years across various Asian language content.
The company said its registered user base grew by 27% globally in 2022, leading the streamer to increase its investment in content by 17% that year. Korean content remains the majority of what is consumed on the service, but viewership for Japanese, Chinese and Thai-language shows increased, too.
Karen Paek, vice president of marketing at Rakuten Viki, said in an interview that while the company has been in the Asian entertainment space for more than 10 years, it’s recently seen a growing interest and passion around the world for its shows, which are mostly licensed.
“For Viki specifically, we have been seeing a shift in terms of the ethnic makeup of our viewership toward non-Asians,” Paek said. “But at the same time, the whole audience size is growing.”
Paek said the streamer sees a boost in registered viewers and viewership in general when hits like “Squid Game” hit the mainstream.
The user base for Rakuten Viki has been so passionate that the subtitles for much of its content are actually generated by a volunteer community around the world. Its content is mainly produced and created in Asian countries, although the service licenses hits like “The Farewell,” especially during Asian American Pacific Islander month, for its U.S. audience.
www.cnbc.com/2023/05/28/...reaming-asian-movies-tv-grows.html
