AZN Stocks Up on Asian Dramas

CENTENNIAL, July 19: AZN Television, the Comcast-owned
network for Asian Americans, has secured the U.S. cable rights to a number of
new drama series from China, Korea and India for its summer and fall
programming schedule.

AZN Television has reached licensing agreements with CCTV in
China, STAR India, and KBS, MBC and YA Entertainment in Korea. All of the
series will air on AZN in their original languages, with the majority having
English subtitles.

AZN has acquired the 24-part Korean drama series Hwang
Jini and the 100-episode historical drama Dae
Jo Young from KBS. Hwang Jini currently airs in primetime Monday through Friday on
AZN. The drama stars Korean actress Ha Ji-won, who won a Best Actress award for
the title role as a famous 16th century Korean entertainer.
Currently still airing in Korea, Dae Jo Young follows the story of King Dae Jo Young and other
heroes of the Balhae Kingdom, dating back 1300 years ago. Episodes of both
series will be made available on the network’s website.

AZN has also purchased the 52-part Hindi drama Saara
Akaash from STAR India. Currently airing on
AZN, the first season of the series follows the lives of five Air Force pilots
just out of flight school, all of whom are childhood friends.

The network has also acquired the five-part series Freeze, from Korea’s YA Entertainment, which debuts on July
30, and follows two vampires who run a bar together—one meets and falls
in love with a human, much to the dismay of the other. The 16-part Korean drama
Someday, also from YA
Entertainment, is scheduled for a
September premiere. Someday is
the first Korean drama to integrate animation and live action while going back
and forth between Korea and Japan to tell the story of four individuals’ quest
to discover the true meaning of love.

From CCTV, AZN has acquired the 10-part historical Mandarin
drama The Story of Han Dynasty, which
follows the story of two men from different backgrounds as they fight against
the cruel governance of China’s first emperor, Qin. The series will make its
U.S. cable premiere exclusively on AZN on September 22 and air every Saturday
and Sunday in primetime.

AZN has also bagged the rights to several dramas from MBC in
Korea, including two 16-episode dramas Thank You, which is set to premiere on the channel on September 4, and Air
City, debuting in November. Thank
You is the story of how a young girl infected with HIV, her
single mom and great-grandfather overcome ignorance and discrimination in a
small village. Set in an international airport, Air City, which pairs Winter Sonata actress Choi Ji-Woo and actor Lee Jeong-Jae, is a
love story about a government intelligence agent and an airport operations
expert.

"Drama series have consistently been among our most
popular programs on the channel so we are very pleased to announce a new crop
of series that will premiere this summer and fall on AZN,” said Katie Daniels,
the executive director of programming at AZN Television. “When we set out to
stock up on dramas, we were looking for series from a variety of regions,
including Korea, China and India. All of these series were big hits in their
native countries and we anticipate they will have strong appeal with our
diverse Asian American audience.”