DramaFever, which had been a great streaming service for Korean and Chinese dramas, shut down without notice on Monday. All the content is gone. The streaming apps are dead. The website just posts a goodbye screen. The YouTube channel has been wiped.
Why? The corporate owners (Warner Bros.) blame "business reasons," and point to competition in the K-drama space from Netflix & Hulu, & the rising cost of licenses. They've laid off some of their employees, but kept most to work with other WB digital endeavors, so for once it wasn't just a move to cut headcount.
They say subscribers will get refunds. I'm not holding my breath. So far they haven't even sent subscribers an email announcing the closure.
Most of the shows I had in my watchlist are also available at Viki.com, so I'm not personally suffering much. But I think it's a shabby way to behave. DramaFever had been a going concern with an active fan community since 2009, and as late as this weekend there were no hints a move like this was in the wind.
Why? The corporate owners (Warner Bros.) blame "business reasons," and point to competition in the K-drama space from Netflix & Hulu, & the rising cost of licenses. They've laid off some of their employees, but kept most to work with other WB digital endeavors, so for once it wasn't just a move to cut headcount.
They say subscribers will get refunds. I'm not holding my breath. So far they haven't even sent subscribers an email announcing the closure.
Most of the shows I had in my watchlist are also available at Viki.com, so I'm not personally suffering much. But I think it's a shabby way to behave. DramaFever had been a going concern with an active fan community since 2009, and as late as this weekend there were no hints a move like this was in the wind.
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