"The Untamed," a 2019 Chinese web series, starring Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo, appeared on the front page of the North American streaming giant Netflix last week. According to the site, the web series was released in North America, South America, and Europe on October 25.

Before that, the copyright export of "The Untamed" had already started, since in late September it was officially announced that the series would be showcased in South Korea and Japan.

The web series is also a hit in U.S. video websites Viki, ODC, and Youtube. At the end of "The Untamed," the series scored 9.8 points on Viki, making it the highest-rated Chinese TV series.

From the path of the copyright export of "The Untamed," it's not difficult to see that the copyright trading areas and the destinations of Chinese dramas are becoming increasingly diversified, from streaming media platforms, such as Netflix and Viki to Korean TV stations and channels. Exporting dramas is becoming increasingly common.

In the past two years, the copyrights of popular Chinese dramas like "Nirvana in Fire," "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" and "Story of Yanxi Palace" were sold to the exterior, as well as modern dramas such as "All is Well" and "A Love For Separation."

Which platforms favor Chinese dramas?

Some of the export platforms for Chinese series in overseas markets are streaming media platforms, namely Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and other streaming media platforms with international influence. For example, TV series like "Nirvana in Fire," "Empresses in the Palace" and "Day and Night" have been successfully launched on Netflix. "Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace" was launched on Hulu, and "The Longest Day in Chang'an" is licensed to Amazon and viewers must pay to watch it.

Some domestic film and television companies will also choose to enter YouTube and set up channels. Video websites such as Youku, Tencent, and iQIYI also have their own channels on YouTube, so "A Love So Beautiful," "My Sunshine," and "Princess Agents" have been played quite a lot on this platform.

There are also video websites such as Viki, that was acquired by Japanese company Rakuten, that focus more on the Asian market, with Korean and Japanese dramas taking up a larger proportion. Actually, after Korean drama streaming hub DramaFever was shut down in 2018, Viki acquired 19 dramas from the previous platform and it stepped up its game to conquer K-Drama fans. 

The price of copyrights is rising

This year, the Chinese web series "The Longest Day in Chang'an" announced that it would launch in North America on Viki, Amazon, and YouTube for a monthly fee. It is the first time a domestic series has charged a monthly fee on an overseas video website.

Industry insiders said that most domestic series are priced from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars per episode overseas, because historical period dramas are more popular overseas. Dramas such as "Nirvana in Fire" and "Empresses in the Palace" sell for tens of thousands of dollars per episode overseas, but such cases were rare in earlier years.

With an increase in quantity and improvement in quality,  the situation  of domestic dramas going abroad is changing. In 2018, some Chinese historical period dramas were sold for 80,000 to 100,000 U.S. dollars per episode.

By the time "The Longest Day in Chang'an" becomes available overseas, domestic series will be developing better and better in the export distribution market.