By Jae-Ha Kim
Kocowa.com
August 9, 2019
You know how some people don’t believe in going after what they want, because they think no one will listen? Well, Brazilians said they wanted Portuguese subtitles and guess what? KOCOWA listened. The high premium streaming service will officially launch in Brazil with Portuguese subtitles on August 12.
Maravilhosa!
After Dramafever abruptly shut its doors, Brazilians wanted a legal and safe streaming service to watch their Korean dramas. They started an online hashtag (#KocowaCometoBrazil) to grab the streaming service’s attention. And more than 7,000 Brazilian K-Drama fans signed a Change.Org petition to bring KOCOWA to their home country.
The grassroots movement worked.
“We are pleased to be able to provide KOCOWA services to Korean Wave fans in Brazil,” said KunHee Park, CEO of the Korea Content Platform (KCP). “We will continue to provide high-quality services to K-Drama and K-Pop fans so that they can enjoy a huge amount of content in a comfortable manner.”
KOCOWA is a venture between the Big 3 Korean broadcasting networks: Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and Seoul Broadcasting System (SBS). It airs content from those platforms, including exclusive rights to the distribution of some new releases.
KOCOWA — which celebrated its 2nd anniversary last month — is already available in countries such as the United States, Canada and Mexico. One of its strongest selling points is that it provides sub-titled Korean content within five hours after the programming airs in South Korea.
Some popular titles with Portuguese subtitles include the beloved variety shows “Running Man” and “Home Alone.” Brazilian Hallyu fans will also be able to see subs in their native language for a slew of fan favorites such as “The Secret Life of My Secretary,” “The Moon Embracing the Sun,” “The Heirs,” “My Love From the Star,” “Pinocchio,” “Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth,” “The Fiery Priest” and “My Secret, Terrius.”
