The saga continues! In a move that some saw coming, but I didn’t, Kocowa has partnered with Viki to offer their new content at a higher monthly price. Which kind of makes me wonder why Kocowa was created in the first place. Come join me as I chat about the new plan and what that means for viewers.
You might recall that this last month a new streaming site emerged called Kocowa. Pretty much it was all three of the main tv stations in Korea gathering together and cutting out the middle man to bring us drama content. Just a month in and that has all changed. Enter the new Viki & Kocowa agreement. Pretty much it is Viki, but now with a larger price tag if you want to access all the Kocowa content.
According to Viki’s blog post, the new content that was going to be available only through Kocowa will now be available with the Viki Pass Plus, which will be $9.99/month or $99.99 for the entire year. Viki Pass Standard will remain $4.99/month. Viki Pass Plus is restricted to North, Central, and South America, whereas Viki Pass Standard will still be available worldwide. It looks like the Taste24 feature has migrated over as well.
Which makes me wonder why this even happened in the first place. It makes sense from Viki’s standpoint since they will want to stay relevant and have a trusted name in the international drama viewing community. But I still don’t understand why they could not have just made a straight over deal with Viki and had to put us through the stress of having to spell the name KOCOWA?
So what does that mean to the regular drama addict? Pretty much, you will still be required to pay more to get all your drama content. But on an up note, it is slightly cheaper than having to get subscriptions to both Kocowa and Viki. I also suspect that they will use some of Viki’s subbers which is always a plus in my book.
The biggest negative is that it truly sucks that they are limiting it to only the Americas. I know a ton of our readers rely on Viki to provide them with a legal way of watching dramas and this kind of screws them over.
So that’s the scoop, drama fans. You want your variety shows and new content from KBS, SBS, and MBC, Viki’s got your platform. What do you think? Will the Pass Plus be worth it?
I’m going to give this one a while to work the bugs out before I sign up for the more expensive plan. Viki isn’t my favorite platform, so I’m waiting to see what happens when it’s all said and done.
Here’s the issue. The KOCOWA content that was available this morning (Aug 14) was not subbed although it was subbed on KOCOWA (I know I watched on KOCOWA this weekend) subtitling in progress Viki says. That’s a huge issue if Viki wants $9.99/month. For now I’m going w/both and hope Viki picks up tvN, jtbc and OCN programing although i’m not holding my breath. I’m pinning my hopes on DramaFever for those stations.
That’s exactly my issue. The Kocowa videos on Viki don’t have subs, even if they’re already subbed on Kocowa. Why???!???!??!
They claim nothing changes for current Viki Pass subscribers but I’m not sure how it doesn’t. I still don’t see the value in Kocowa since I don’t watch daily dramas or variety shows. And I like the volunteer subs because they are closer to what is being said instead of changing the wording. I’m hoping the volunteers won’t go away snd I hooe they still get to sub currently airing shows. Their wuality, adding context when needed and music lyrics makes the subs stand out over Dramafever.
DF not subbing music lyrics and written material bugs the heck out of me. I’m like,” Viki volunteers do that for free, and yet your paid subbers can’t be bothered.” Also the grammar and spelling mistakes I catch on DF surprise me as well. Maybe they’re not paying the subbers enough to care about that stuff.
Lol, I’m so confused. What is going on with these sites? I mean, I don’t really have a problem with them merging with Viki. But yeah, why wait until now to do it? Are they going to take down the Kocowa site? Are subtitles going to be put up faster? So many questions lol. I thought the whole point was to cut out the middle man. Maybe they realized it would just be easier to use a streaming site that’s already out there. No clue.
But I’m thankful for your posts ladies! I wouldn’t know what the heck is going on without you lol! 😀
I think it is great that Viki is at least getting the licenses to Manhole, Into the World and Falsify but have no idea why I as a consumer would pay an extra $50 to be able to access raw video. The few episodes of Into the World that are available to me as a Viki Pass subscriber are not even subbed (not complaining just stating a fact) so might as well wait the 2-3 week for shows to become available at which time they will hopefully be subbed.
I have also now noticed on Viki that many dramas (My Love From Another Star, It’s Okay It’s Love) are no longer available except to Viki Pass Plus subscribers. What a bummer and I am so confused about how to proceed! I guess for now I will keep my DF subscription (even though they are severely lacking in new licenses) and keep my Viki Pass until more time passes. Overall these new developments seem to be harming us in the international viewing community (DF mysteriously lost the license to Live up to the Name) so very disappointed.
Me exactly! Even though I’m in USA (Alaska). Kowcowa has been a major pain for dramawatchers. Wondering what DF/Warner Bros. will do as they just purchased DF not that long ago…seems they are being shut out. Furthermore, VikiPlus was $89.99 for ppl already having a Viki account and today all I can see is the $99.99. And if I can’t get them into English asap, why bother with VikiPlus? Really, it’s all so poorly developed.
I’m not a big live-watch fan so I’m happy with my normal Viki pass for now. I’m wondering if the shows they’re getting with the new Kocowa shows will be available any Viki user once they’ve finished airing.
Right now, I’m just going to keep my Regular Viki Pass. The extra $50 is not worth it for me at the moment since I can wait to see shows. Currently, the Kocowa on Viki is still a bit confusing. Right now, I don’t think it’s worth the extra money just for the new dramas as it looks like Viki negotiated a delayed liscense for Regular Viki Pass subscribers. I checked on ‘Reunited Worlds” and I have access to episodes 1-4 right now. Episodes 5-16 are on a delayed access ranging from 5-16 days, depending on the episode. It’s the same type of setup for “Manhole” and “Falsify/Distorted”. If I want to watch “right away” then I have free access via Kocowa website Taste24 option. So far, they have posted the episodes with subs on the Kocowa Taste24 section of the site. Kocowa website has professional subs and they upload the fully subbed episodes quickly. In that sense, they operate the same as Dramafever. The only reason I see to go with Viki Plus for new shows at this point is for those people who have to have Viki subs access in the moment and can’t wait for 2 weeks. If you are satified with the Kocowa subbers, then you can just watch the fully subbed episodes at Kocowa, without having to wait as the Viki volunteer teams progress through.
If Kocowa keeps it’s promise that all new shows will be available simultaneously at both Viki and Kocowa, then Viki Plus pass is also a savings of $19 over the Kocowa yearly pass. As of today, there are new shows available at Kocowa that are not available at Viki.
So for me the Viki Pass Plus is not worth it for new dramas. What may make it worth the cost for me is the access it provides to older dramas. Recently, Viki lost a lot of Korean dramas due to expired liscenses. Now, many of those dramas are back under the Kocowa/Viki Pass Plus subscription and are only available to Viki Pass Plus subscribers. I enjoy rewatching dramas, so having access to the backlist
is important for me. I subscribe to Dramafever so for now I can access many older dramas there. Unlike a lot of people, I don’t mind Dramafever subtitles and find they are perfectly fine for my needs in many cases. To be honest, I don’t get the DF hate. I think both DF and Viki subs have their pluses and minuses. Anyway, if the situation changes to where the older dramas are not available to me anymore for rewatch, then Viki Pass Plus may be worth the money.
So now Viki is offering a promotion to upgrade to Viki Pass Plus but does anyone know if that would then give you access to Kocowa’s website as well? There are shows on Kocowa that are not available on Viki so not sure why someone would pay for the upgrade if they can not view all the shows that Kocowa has as well.
Seems like a good way to spread awareness of the kokowa site, make more money by reaching existing Viki subscribers who may not want to pay for two separate services, and a good interim arrangement while kokowa get more aspects of their own site up and running. If Kokowa can get tvN on board with them ultimately, then I think that DF and Viki will need to step up their game with other content – please oh please will one of them start getting more things from Japan!!!
oh my goodness, why do I keep misspelling kocowa x_x ugh