Burning Ice reaches Japan
Details
Rebecca Hawkes
| 20 February 2019

Japanese TV station BS TWEIIV (BS12) is to broadcast the crime drama Burning Ice following a deal with its producer, the Chinese digital entertainment company iQIYI.

Airing in primetime at 7pm each Friday, the move marks the first tie a Chinese crime drama has been acquired by NHKEP for distribution in Japan through a mainstream local Japanese TV channel.

Burning Ice has already streamed outside mainland China on Netflix and on over-the-top (OTT) platform HMVOD in Hong Kong.

"The maturity of Japanese TV market in terms of both the quality and quantity of the country's self-developed crime drama is exceptionally high, which makes iQIYI's successful distribution of 'Burning Ice' to Japan an even greater achievement," said Chen Xiao, vice president of iQIYI.

“We're delighted to have the opportunity to share iQIYI's premium video content with greater numbers of viewers outside mainland China, as the popularity of Chinese dramas continues to surge overseas.”

Burning Ice is adapted from the crime novel of the same name by Chinese author Zijin Chen.

Produced by Dai Ying, vice president at iQIYI, and executive produced by Han Sanping, the series was directed by industry newcomer Luxing. It stars Qin Hao, Deng Jiajia, Dai Xu and Wang Zhen'er.

It follows iQIYI's hit costume drama The Story of Yanxi Palace onto Japanese TV screens. Further iQIYI content, including With you, Summer's Desire and Tang Dynasty Tour, are also bound for Japanese TV distribution, the company said.