South Korea's mega-hit television series "Descendants of the Sun" continues to make waves in China. The sensational drama starring Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo has been recognized as the reason behind the increase in paid membership in China's online streaming site, iQIYI.
According to the Korean Creative Content Agency based in Beijing, the said TV drama has served as the "biggest force" which brought an increase in number of paid iQIYI users. These observations were based on a study titled "White Paper on Individual Consumption of Online Videos", South Korean news website Yonhap News Agency has learned.
iQIYI has announced last year that it has doubled their number in paid subscription since June, 2015. The company revealed that as of December, 2015, the online streaming site has reached 10 million paid membership.
iQIYI is considered as one of China's largest internet and mobile video providers. An independently-operated subsidiary of Baidu, it has the largest number of paid subscribers among online streaming websites in China based on the 2015 Report in Development of China's Internet Audio-Visual Media.
Most online streaming sites in China allowed users to view their contents for free until last year; however, there has been a change in policy in accordance to the law to charge for content.
As of March this year, iQIYI has been reported to have 15 million in paid subscribers which is a 50 percent increase in three months. An official of the Korean Creative Content Agency has revealed that the rise in membership earlier this year concurred with the broadcast of "Descendants of the Sun" which was simulataneously aired in South Korea and China from February 24 to April 14, 2016.
"'Descendants of the Sun' obviously made Chinese [people] start to believe it is worth playing for a good drama," he said in a report by Yonhap News Agency.
In addition, China News Daily has also learned that iQIYI owned exclusive rights to stream the South Korean romantic drama in China. The online streaming site offered VIP memberships which gave immediate access to all episodes.
Watch a preview of the widely popular "Descendants of the Sun" below.