Are there really 35min Korean dramas?

@MAT13 wrote:
So far, all Korean dramas I've watched in the past 15 years were usually 16-20 episodes, and each episode was 1 hour or longer.

But lately I've noticed that we have Korean dramas that are 32 (instead of 16) and 40 (instead of 20) episodes, and those episodes are marked as 35min each and usually two episodes were marked as aired in the same day immediately one after another.

I noticed such things on wikipedia and asian drama pages, but is that really the case? I've watched some of those dramas that we have on file as 32 episodes, but I've watched them as 16 episodes. Of course, that may have been concatenated somehow, but still, each episode usually has a pre-set on the picture number saying "Episode 1"  (in Korean) and so on. I've never seen something like Episode 30 or even something like Episode 1 Part 1 and Episode 1 Part 2.

So, are these episodes really aired as separate dual episodes on Korean TV channels? Or is there just a commercial and for some reason we copy other sited as split each episode in two instead?

Notice that end credits on each such episode is is after 1 hour and Korean dramas usually show images from current episode, so one 1 hour episode shows end credits with images from full hour (first and second half) and not after 30 min.

Again, I don't live in Korean and don't watch on their TV, usually download them or watch them online. But so far, I have never encountered a 35min episode even for those we have marked as such.

Can anyone confirm this one way or another or at least comment on this. I'd really like to know if this is done right or we just copied this from some untrustworthy sites (although I doubt they would suddenly start doubling number of episodes for no reason, so there must be some truth to it).

I sadly cannot help with this :(

Hi @MAT13 ,

There used to be a law which prohibited state-owned networks like KBS & SBS to broadcast advertisements during a running show. Mainstream TV was losing money due to stream services and they needed the additional revenue to remain profitable. To bypass this law, they decided to split them into half and call them episode 1 and 2 by giving them separate credits on TV, which per policy is also considered two episodes with TVmaze.

Example: https://program.kbs.co.kr/2tv/drama/drprisoner/pc/index.html

In the example above you can see 32 episodes.

The series though when sold to Netflix for example will provide you with 16 episodes. It's basically Episode 1 & 2 combined into 1.

To my knowledge this law was eventually changed or adjusted, which made most state-owned broadcasters return to the single episode per day rather than 2 of 35 min.

@WatchingTV wrote:
Hi @MAT13 ,

There used to be a law which prohibited state-owned networks like KBS & SBS to broadcast advertisements during a running show. Mainstream TV was losing money due to stream services and they needed the additional revenue to remain profitable. To bypass this law, they decided to split them into half and call them episode 1 and 2 by giving them separate credits on TV, which per policy is also considered two episodes with TVmaze.

Example: https://program.kbs.co.kr/2tv/drama/drprisoner/pc/index.html

In the example above you can see 32 episodes.

The series though when sold to Netflix for example will provide you with 16 episodes. It's basically Episode 1 & 2 combined into 1.

 

To my knowledge this law was eventually changed or adjusted, which made most state-owned broadcasters return to the single episode per day rather than 2 of 35 min.

Okay, thanks for the info. I was aware that there weren't any commercials (or at least they were kept at minimum) but wasn't sure about this split case, and as like you said, some of those 32-episode dramas I watched Netflix versions and there they were 16 episodes.

I wasn't aware of this and seeing how multiple both networks were airing it, I did "fix" one such drama from 32 down to 16, which was this drama:

- https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/41810/one-spring-night

Not sure if that needs to split back or if it's okay to have it like this as well. But I do remember that each episode had it's number as part of the video, and there were 16 not 32. But I do see that other sites have it listed as 32 episodes.

I could create back 16 episodes and reorder them and reupload those shots to match each episode, or we could leave it like this. Not sure if this plays big role or not.

I watched Netflix version of this drama, and as you can see on their site, there are 16 episodes:
- https://www.netflix.com/jp-en/title/81094069

Is it worth trouble to return it back to 32 eps or is it fine to leave it at 16? Let me know. If 32 is preferable, I'll do the necessary updates and changes to how it was.

I assume most of the viewers here will be watching the 16 episode long series anyhow and would not complain nor do I really care myself about it, but policy states that we should follow the way it was aired on the original network. I personally wouldn't hassle to revert your changes, but would refrain to change other series with this odd predicament.

We need to follow policy so it needs to have the 32 episodes as that's how it originally aired. 

You can always create an alternative list for the Netflix version

@TomSouthwell wrote:
We need to follow policy so it needs to have the 32 episodes as that's how it originally aired. 

Okay, I will fix it back sometime later today.

@WatchingTV Got it, that's why I didn't go about changing any other show after realising that what I did shouldn't have been done. Wasn't sure if both networks aired/streamed it simultaneously in which case either version would be acceptable as first. But yeah, will fix this back today, so don't worry. Thanks for all the info.

Okay, fixed everything.

Cheers!

Just a bit additional info... just started watching Are You Human Too? and it's recording from TV and it has split 1 hour episodes in parts and they are marked as such, meaning second half actually has number 2 as part of the video. So, now I know for sure how those episodes looked like when aired ;))