Netflix Inks Multi-Title Licensing Deal With South Korea's JTBC

The online giant will have broadcasting rights to 600 hours of JTBC's TV dramas and variety shows.

Netflix has inked a multi-title licensing deal with South Korea's JTBC and will have broadcasting rights to 600 hours of the network's top TV dramas and variety shows, it was announced Tuesday.

A select library of JTBC's scripted and unscripted content will become available to Netflix users. The agreement includes the network's signature titles such as the cooking show Chef & My Fridge (aka Take Care of My Fridge) and Abnormal Summit. Both shows will stream on the Netflix Korean service the day after they air on JTBC.

Beating Again and Can We Get Married, both of which are also popular in Korea, will be globally available on Netflix starting the third quarter of 2017.

The deal comes shortly after Netflix picked up JTBC's new TV series Man x Man, which premiered on April 21. While Netflix has been expanding its slate of Korean originals, as well as library of titles from the Asian country, this was the first time a local series became simultaneously available on the video streaming giant.

Netflix's first two Korean originals, Love Alarm and Kingdom, are set to premiere in 2018.

Meanwhile, Chef & My Fridge is produced by Signal Entertainment Group, which also entered a co-development deal with Bunim/Murray Productions (Banijay Group), the creators of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.

April 24, 11:15 p.m. Updated with additional details about program titles.