Hallyu combines with Thai wave in Viu original
Details
Michelle Clancy
| 30 August 2019

Asian over-the-top (OTT) video platform Viu is working on a new romantic comedy series featuring star of K-pop group 2PM Nichkhun Horvejkul and Thai Gen Z idol Mean Phiravich.

The platform’s owner, PCCW Media, said the 13 episode series Bubble Tea will combine Korea’s popular Hallyu and Thai wave entertainment phenomena and represents a blend of the two cultures. Its main cast command a combined social media follower base of more that 11.5 million.

The comedy, which is slated to air in the first quarter of 2020, will be directed by Thammarong Sermrittirong, a director of Thai TV series The Gifted.

Based on a novel from Fictionlog, a user-generated content platform in Thailand, the storyline features a woman who falls for her boss, and so concocts a supernatural bubble tea brew to win his love. In a bitter twist, a man she despises accidentally drinks the tea and falls head over heels for her – giving rise to a chaotic love triangle.

“From cast selection of talents who have great social media following to choosing an IP from Fictionlog that has an established online fan base, My Bubble Tea caters to the interests of the digital audience at the core of our content development,” said Janice Lee, managing director of PCCW Media Group .

“We identified the Korean Wave, or Hallyu, as one of Southeast Asia’s main entertainment trends a few years ago and have since channelled a lot of effort into offering premium Korean content to Viu-ers – a move proving to be successful in customer acquisition and engagement. The Thai wave is now lapping on the shores in Asia, while Hallyu continues to gather momentum. This has prompted us to explore the combination of Hallyu and Thai wave to create a new and hopefully refreshing breed of entertainment for our audiences.”

In the six months to 30 June, 2019, Viu users watched 30 billion video minutes in 2.9 billion video views, PCCW said.