Back in the late 90s, just before the millennium, South Korea came up with a plan to increase Korean culture internationally called hallyu or the Korean Wave. In order for it to work, they believed the best way was through entertainment. K-pop is recognized as the most-popular form of Korean entertainment to influence Hallyu, but it is not the only one. Korean television and movies, also known as K-dramas, K-variety shows, and K-movies, also influence Hallyu.
Around 2009, entrepreneurs saw the potential of Korean television and movies by creating video-on-demand (VOD) streaming sites that streamed such content. Out of all the VOD streaming sites today, the most popular one is DramaFever.
Formed back in 2008, DramaFever became one of the leaders in streaming Korean content internationally. Through the site's existence, they've showcased replays of the annual Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) and KCON events. They even co-produced three K-dramas, "Heirs" starring Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye, "Cantabile Tomorrow" starring Joo Won, Shim Eun Kyung, and Park Bo Gum, and the currently airing "My Secret Romance" starring Sung Hoon and Jieun of Secret.
Every year since 2013, DramaFever has held an annual awards show known as the DramaFever Awards. In it, fans vote on featured categories pertaining to Korean television and movies. Just recently, they held their fifth annual awards and after 3,239,506 votes, we now know who the winners are.
What are the categories and who won?
The Fifth Annual DramaFever Awards had 19 categories in which fans could vote for. They are Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Feature Film, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best SNS Drama, Best Chinese Language Drama, Best Kiss, Best Variety Show, Best Bromance, Rising Star, Best Couple, Best K-Drama (Comedy), Best K-Drama (Melodrama), Best Villain, Best Ensemble, Best Historical Drama, Best Bad Boy, and Best Eating Scene.
DramaFever presented the winners through a video recap of all the nominees followed by revealing the winner near the end of the video. They are all tagged and attached below.
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Feature Film
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best SNS Drama
Best Chinese Language Drama
Best Kiss
Best Variety Show
Best Bromance
Rising Star
Best Couple
Best K-Drama (Comedy)
Best K-Drama (Melodrama)
Best Villain
Best Ensemble
Best Historical Drama
Best Bad Boy
Best Eating Scene
DramaFever Awards results showed the significance of international fans.
International fans showed how much of an impact they can make in this year's awards more so than previous years. For starters, "Goblin" overtook Descendants of the Sun winning in five categories.
"Goblin" aired on the Total Variety Network (tvN) which is a cable network (pay-to-watch) in South Korea while "Descendants of the Sun" aired on the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) which is a public network (free-to-watch). Historically, K-dramas airing on public networks would usually surpass K-dramas airing on cable networks in viewership when adjusted. This would also result in public network K-dramas winning more accolades than cable network K-dramas, too.
Also, international fans showed that a K-drama can be unsuccessful in South Korea but very successful internationally. This was proven with "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo" winning both Best Ensemble and Best Historical Drama over its competition, which was also a historical drama, "Moonlight Drawn by Clouds." Take note during their initial run in South Korea, "Moonlight Drawn by Clouds" earned over 20 percent in viewership while "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo" struggled in single digit viewership.
Finally, Chinese dramas or C-dramas were given more recognition in this year's awards more so than previous years too. Some of the nominations in certain categories were from C-dramas. Even though none of them won, the fact they were included shows their growing popularity.
For those interested in K-dramas and C-dramas wondering why they are growing in popularity, check out DramaFever. Some of the K-dramas currently airing that might be of interest are "Lovely Love Lie," "Tunnel," "Radiant Office," "Queen of Mystery," "You Are Too Much," and their third co-produced KDramas, the first romance by the Orion Cinema Network (OCN) called "My Secret Romance."