Singapore-based streaming platform Viki.com has signed a multi-year content deal with Beijing-based Huala Baina Film & TV (HBN).
The deal gives Viki users access to hundreds of hours of Chinese TV dramas, such as A Dream Of Red Mansions, Who Knows The Female Of The Women, We Love You, Mr Jin and Suo Meng Lou.
Owned by Japan’s Rakuten, Viki utilises crowd-sourcing to subtitle foreign-language content, including popular TV dramas from Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
The service’s global fanbase has reached nearly 40 million viewers per month, who have subtitled its content into more than 200 languages.
Directed by Li Shaohong, A Dream Of Red Mansions is based on Chinese classic novel Dream Of The Red Chamber and revolves around a group of aristocrats in the 18th century.
We Love You, Mr Jin is a romantic comedy about parents interfering in the love lives of young Beijing professionals, while Who Knows The Female Of The Women is a period drama about marriage brokered by the wealthy elite.
Commenting on the deal, HBN general manager Liu Dehong said: “We would like HBN drama to be well known not only among Chinese audiences, but also in the international market. Viki is such a global new media platform that can help HBN fulfill this blueprint.”
Viki CEO Tammy H. Nam said: “Viki is very proud to be the only global digital platform that proactively connects with local production powerhouse HBN to open up its world-class TV shows and movies to an international audience of new fans who will also socialise and subtitle into dozens of new languages.”