Dramas "Merchant", "Rich" sold to Japan for USD 3 mln

Published on 2010/04/14 | Source

Korean dramas "The Great Merchant" and "Becoming a Billionaire" [KBS]

Korean TV series "The Great Merchant" and "Becoming a Billionaire" have been sold to Japan's national public broadcasting organization NHK for a total three million dollars, according to KBS Media on Tuesday.

KBS said it sold the broadcasting rights for "The Great Merchant" to NHK's main program-making subsidiary NHK Enterprise and the video rights to Japan's largest distributor Tsutaya.

ACC, an affiliate of NHK, purchased the video and broadcasting rights for "Becoming a Billionaire".

Both deals came to fruit at the annual MIP TV Media Market, one of the world's largest fairs for co-producing, buying, selling, financing and distributing entertainment content.

"This was a major deal and 'The Great Merchant' in particular was sold for the highest price ever per episode", KBS' New Media team manager Kwon Oh-suk explained.

"The Great Merchant", KBS' weekend drama starring top Korean actress Lee Mi-yeon, is the life story of a courtesan who becomes one of the top merchants of the Joseon dynasty.

The show began its run on March 6 and has scored average viewership ratings of 13.4 percent and 13 percent, according to surveys by TNS Media and AGB Nielsen Media Research, respectively.

"Becoming a Billionaire", starring Korean actors Ji Hyun-woo and Lee Bo-young, is about a man who tries to achieve success by finding his long lost conglomerate father.

The Monday and Tuesday series, now into its 13th episode, has seen average ratings of 14.9 percent on TNS' poll and 14.4 percent on AGB's estimate.