CJ E&M, a local entertainment giant that owns four cable TV channels including tvN and OCN, said Tuesday it earned 13.3 billion won (US$12 million) from overseas sales of its own TV dramas in the third quarter of this year.
Rights to a total of 20 dramas have been sold to foreign countries, including tvN's "Shut Up Flower Boy Band," "I Need Romance" and OCN's "Vampire Prosecutor," with the three exported to more than 20 countries, the company said.
It said overseas sales of "Answer Me 1997," a tvN drama known as this year's most popular cable TV drama, will begin early next year.
"The company will continue to fulfill its role as a window of hallyu, exporting its television dramas to various countries in the Middle East and Europe as well as U.S. and Latin American markets," Choi Jin-hee, a director of CJ E&M said, referring to the rising global popularity of Korean pop culture.
The company has put much energy in producing soap operas since the second half of last year, with the number of series increasing from eight in 2010 to 14 in 2011. It made 18 TV dramas this year alone. (Yonhap)