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Warner Bros. kills Asian streaming haven DramaFever

Let me just get a Kleenex.

Zoey Chong Reporter
Zoey is CNET's Asia News Reporter based in Singapore. She prefers variety to monotony and owns an Android mobile device, a Windows PC and Apple's MacBook Pro all at the same time. Outside of the office, she can be found binging on Korean variety shows, if not chilling out with a book at a café recommended by a friend.
Zoey Chong
2 min read
df-shutdown

DramaFever bade its subscribers adieu after nine years.

Screengrab by Zoey Chong/CNET

It's a sad day for Korean drama fans.

Warner Bros has axed its streaming service DramaFever with immediate effect, it announced on its website Tuesday. The service was best known for making Kdramas accessible to its subscribers, though Chinese and Japanese content were also available on the site.

The company confirmed the closure to CNET in an email: "Today, Warner Bros. Digital Networks will be closing its DramaFever OTT service due to business reasons and in light of the rapidly changing marketplace for K-drama content, a staple of the service's programming. Warner Bros. Digital Labs, which encompasses more than two-thirds of the DramaFever workforce, will continue operating, serving as the tech engine behind many of WBDN's operations," said a spokesperson.

In a note, DramaFever thanked its subscribers for "nine great years" and attributed the closure to "a variety of business reasons." It added that refunds will be issued and subscribers can expect an email with details in the coming days. It didn't soothe any heartbreaks on Twitter though:

DramaFever advised its subscribers that new episodes of currently airing dramas would be "postponed until a later date" before going silent on its social media platforms in the days before the announcement, Forbes reported. Everything on its YouTube channel, which has almost 4.3 million subscribers, has been removed.

The move comes as news that AT&T is planning a HBO-based streaming service bundling content from its other properties such as Turner and Warner Bros. surfaced last week. The company had only recently acquired Time Warner for $85 billion.

Meanwhile, if you want to get into Kdramas but don't know where to start, we have a few suggestions.

First published Oct.17, 4:07 a.m. PT.
Update, 6:50 p.m. PT: Adds comment from Warner Bros.  

Watch this: AT&T will come out with yet another streaming service