K-drama rights fetch record price in China

K-drama rights fetch record price in China

HONG KONG - 3 Days, a South Korean drama following hot on the designer heels of My Love From The Star, has set a record price for Chinese simulcast rights, says Apple Daily.

Video websites Youku and Tudou are paying about HK$390,000 (S$63,000) an episode - about five times the usual price of HK$78,000 - for the political thriller starring JYJ singer Park Yu Chun, a big name in K-pop, as a president's bodyguard.

In total, the price for the 16- episode show is about HK$6.24 million, a record for a K-drama in China, says the report.

For My Love From The Star, a romantic fantasy by broadcaster SBS which has been a huge hit in China, websites are said to have paid about 200,000 yuan (S$41,000) an episode. The show is said to have been viewed more than two billion times in China.

3 Day replaces My Love From The Star on the roster of SBS, which has an impressive track record in producing hits. The broadcaster has been on a winning streak for Wednesday and Thursday nights since last year, with dramas including I Hear Your Voice, The Master's Sun and The Inheritors.

In 3 Days, Park's bodyguard uncovers a conspiracy to assassinate the president, who has left for a three-day vacation in the countryside. The president goes missing and the bodyguard, who is made the scapegoat, goes on the run.

The show is by Kim Eun Hee, the writer of other SBS thrillers including 2012's Ghost.

3 Days premieres in Singapore on April 2 on One (StarHub TV Channel 820 or SingTel mio TV Channel 513).


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