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Rakuten Viki

Rakuten Viki is an American over-the-top media service and video on demand streaming platform owned by Rakuten. The service specializes in Asian television series and films, particularly Korean drama, Chinese, Taiwanese, and Japanese productions, which are distributed globally with community-created subtitles.

The platform allows users to watch content with subtitles available in more than 200 languages through a crowdsourced translation system. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, the company operates additional offices in Singapore, Tokyo, and Seoul.

The name Viki is a portmanteau of the words video and wiki, reflecting the platform's reliance on volunteer communities to create subtitles and translations for international audiences.

Viki won the TechCrunch Crunchie Award for Best International Startup in 2011. The platform was later acquired by Rakuten in 2013 and integrated into the company's global digital content ecosystem.

History

2007–2012: Early years

Viki was founded in 2007 by Razmig Hovaghimian, Changseong Ho and Jiwon Moon. Funding for the company originally came from Neoteny Labs, a Singapore-based start-up fund headed by Joichi Ito, and from the co-founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman.[1]

The company moved to Singapore in 2008 to take advantage of government backing and the city-state's role as a pan-Asian hub.[2] In December 2010, Viki exited the beta phase of its software and made its services available to the general public.[3] It was purchased by Rakuten in 2013.[4]

In September 2011, Viki debuted a new iPhone app called Viki On-The-Go, allowing users to watch content on their smartphones. The company also partnered with Samsung Southeast Asia that year to develop an Android app.[5][6] Viki.com drew 14 million unique views in August 2011. Viki raised $20 million from Greylock Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, and BBC Worldwide in October of that year.[1][2][6]

In May 2012, Viki announced deals with Warner Music Group, SEED Music Group of Taiwan, and LOEN Entertainment of South Korea, bringing thousands of music videos to the site.[7] In that same month, BBC Worldwide announced an extension of its relationship with Viki, including a deal to work with the company on advertising.[5]

In July 2012, Viki signed a non-exclusive deal with the Chinese social network Renren, in which Viki would provide a video site for the social network called VikiZone.[6] The deal includes only a portion of the Viki catalog and is offered for free.[8]

2013–present: Purchase by Rakuten

In the year following its acquisition by Japanese technology conglomerate Rakuten in 2013,[9] Viki went from about 22 million monthly active users with 10 million on mobile to 35 million monthly active users and 25 million mobile users.[10]

The company has a list of partners for sourcing original content, including BBC Worldwide. The company has also signed distribution deals for its original content with Hulu, Netflix, Yahoo!, MSN, NBC, and A&E, as well as TVB in Hong Kong, SBS in South Korea, Fuji TV in Japan and Amedia in Russia.[5]

Services

Viki streams premium licensed content in a similar way that Hulu does in U.S. markets.[11] The site then puts the content on one of its channels, and the content can be subtitled by community volunteers.[12] Community members can subtitle their favorite videos in their preferred languages, under a Creative Commons license using Viki's subtitling technology, enabling individuals to collaborate globally, in dozens of languages at once.[13] The subtitling software developed for the company allows many volunteers to translate a video concurrently in up to 160 languages.[11] Viki also syndicates its shows with fan-generated subtitles to partners such as Hulu, Netflix, and Yahoo!, and receives fees and revenue from those distributors.[14] Of the approximately 200 language subtitles available on the site, roughly 50 of these are vulnerable or endangered languages.[15]

Original programming

Viki has more than 100 original programs, including entertainment shows, drama and mini-series.[16]

  • Dramaworld (2016)
  • Where Your Eyes Linger (2020)
  • Light on Me (2021)

External

References

  1. Holmes, Sam. Breaking Down Language Barriers - WSJ The Wall Street Journal, 2012, retrieved December 3, 2015^
  2. Sarah Lacy. ViKi Raises $4.3 Million from VC All-Stars to Translate the World's Video TechCrunch, 2010, retrieved January 25, 2013^
  3. Zac Bertschy. Interview: Razmig Hovaghimian, Cofounder and CEO of Viki.com Anime News Network, 2012, retrieved January 25, 2013^
  4. Naomi Klinge. Watch parties and K-pop. How San Mateo streamer Rakuten Viki is growing in a pandemic Los Angeles Times, 22 July 2020, retrieved 12 December 2021^
  5. Leena Rao. International Video Site ViKi Debuts iPhone App, Will Partner With Samsung For Android App TechCrunch, 2011, retrieved January 25, 2013^
  6. E.B. Boyd. Boom Tube: How Viki Is Creating The Global Hulu Fast Company, 2012, retrieved January 25, 2013^
  7. Russell, Jon. Global Music Site Viki Moves into Music After Signing up Record Labels The Next Web, 2012, retrieved December 3, 2015^
  8. Ingrid Lunden. Viki Climbs The Great Firewall, Signs With 'China's Facebook' Renren For Its First Video Distribution Deal In The Country TechCrunch, 2012, retrieved January 25, 2013^
  9. Swisher, Kara. Exclusive: Japan's Rakuten Acquires Viki Video Site for $200 Million AllThingsD, 2013, retrieved December 3, 2015^
  10. Corbin, David. Razming Hovaghimian, founder of Viki, out as CEO, to lead Rakuten's global video strategy Tech in Asia, 2015, retrieved December 3, 2015^
  11. Sam Holmes. Singapore Start-up Sees Gold Mine In Foreign Language TV The Wall Street Journal, 2011, retrieved January 25, 2013^
  12. Rakuten Viki www.viki.com, retrieved June 1, 2019^
  13. Rakuten Viki Terms of Use Section 8.3.2 www.viki.com, retrieved June 1, 2019^
  14. Greg Bates. Viki Video: 1 Billion Videos in 150 languages Means Never Having to Say Rerun Programmable Web, 2012, retrieved January 25, 2013^
  15. Park, Madison. Can Fans Unravel the Babel of the World's Dramas? CNN, 2014, retrieved December 3, 2015^
  16. Joan MacDonald. Rakuten Viki's Slate Of Original Productions Continues To Grow Forbes, 19 May 2021, retrieved 12 December 2021^