China's "Going Global" project (1999) has emphasized the role of film and television in promoting cultural exchange, leading to increased export of C-dramas supported by government policies. The rise of online streaming has blurred the lines between traditional television and online viewing, creating a transnational audience with increased viewer engagement and interactive feedback. This study analyzes user-generated reviews and comments on YouTube and Rakuten Viki to understand audience reception of C-dramas, addressing questions about the most popular dramas, key factors influencing reception, and the role of subtitles in that reception. The study uses a corpus-based approach to analyze a large dataset of user-generated content to achieve a more objective understanding of audience reception.

Reception studies of television dramas are broadly categorized into two approaches: transnational media content studies using qualitative methods, and audiovisual translation studies focusing on subtitling/dubbing and employing empirical methods like questionnaires and eye tracking. While existing research has explored audience reception of subtitles in various contexts, relatively little attention has been paid to the reception of subtitles in online streaming videos and the impact of multiple media platforms on audience engagement and the role of user-generated comments and reviews. This study bridges this gap by focusing on user-generated content from YouTube and Viki, platforms offering both significant viewership and opportunities for interactive feedback.

This study first identifies the top ten most popular C-dramas on YouTube and Rakuten Viki. For YouTube, the average view count per episode was used as the ranking metric, requiring data aggregation from individual episode view counts. For Viki, the number of ratings was used. Next, 1000 English-language reviews/comments for each of the top ten dramas were collected using Octoparse, a web data extraction software. The resulting corpus (20,000 reviews/comments) was analyzed using AntConc, leveraging TagAnt for lemmatization. Keyword analysis, using the British National Corpus as a reference, identified significant keywords. Collocation and concordance analyses, using a combined search term for subtitling-related words, explored the role of subtitles in audience reception. The concordance lines were manually analyzed and categorized into thematic groups. The data collection process spanned six months (December 2022 to May 2023), ensuring the data reflects the most current audience reception.

Statistical analysis revealed a strong preference for contemporary dramas, particularly modern romance dramas, on both platforms. This contrasts with the perception that period dramas are more popular internationally. Modern romance dramas dominated the top ten lists on both platforms, while costume dramas held a smaller share. A comparison with ratings on Douban, a major Chinese online film review platform, showed a significant discrepancy between international and domestic audience preferences, with dramas highly rated internationally receiving relatively low ratings in China. Keyword analysis identified key themes in user comments including genre, viewing experience, factors influencing reception (storyline, acting, characters), viewer sentiments, and self-disclosure. Subtitles were a significant keyword, indicating their crucial role. Collocation analysis revealed requests for subtitles in various non-English languages and positive evaluations of subtitles (particularly on Viki). Concordance analysis categorized subtitle-related comments into eleven themes: requests, acknowledgment, linguistic quality, presentation, comprehension, marked languages, instructions/explanations, emotional reactions, viewership impact, prosumption, and language acquisition. Requests for subtitles were significantly more frequent than acknowledgments, suggesting subtitles were more noticeable when absent or deficient. Concerns about linguistic quality and presentation were also prominent. The need for non-English subtitles highlighted a diverse global viewership.

The findings suggest that international audiences prioritize accessibility and enjoyment when selecting C-dramas, favoring contemporary genres with less cultural and historical baggage. The overwhelmingly positive sentiment in the reviews, focusing on actors, storylines, and overall enjoyment, confirms the success of these dramas in appealing to a global audience. The prominence of subtitle-related concerns underscores the importance of accurate and readily available subtitles in multiple languages to ensure broad accessibility and engagement. The discrepancy between domestic and international preferences hints at differing cultural contexts and expectations, highlighting the need for nuanced strategies in global C-drama distribution. The significant number of requests for subtitles and the diversity of languages requested highlight the necessity for improved subtitling practices and resources in multiple languages. The small number of comments related to language acquisition suggests that entertainment rather than language learning is the primary driver for C-drama consumption on these platforms.

This study provides empirical evidence of the reception of C-dramas on YouTube and Viki, revealing a preference for contemporary modern romance dramas and highlighting the critical role of subtitles. The findings suggest strategies for improving the international reception of C-dramas should focus on creating high-quality subtitles in diverse languages, ensuring timely updates, and understanding the preferences of different viewer demographics. Future research could explore other platforms, genres, languages, and qualitative methods to further enrich our understanding of C-drama reception.

This study is limited to two platforms and English-language comments. The reliance on user-generated comments might not fully capture the views of all viewers, and the frequency-based nature of corpus analysis might not fully explain the underlying reasons behind the observations. The focus on popular dramas might also bias the results towards positive evaluations. Further research using more diverse data sources and methods would enhance the generalizability of these findings.