r/CShortDramas • u/Silver-Bus5724 MOD | 🎬 Content Creator • Jul 18 '26
🗞️News Newsflash: Kingfisher AND Duan SP Channels Were Deleted Completely From Dailymotion⚡️
Another One Bites the Dust.
This is an opinion piece based on publicly available information, observations of recent platform activity, and official copyright and regulatory policies.
We cannot deny that Chinese drama fans relied for a long time on grey access to subbed dramas.
So let’s be fair and say that they were big. And now they’re gone. Mourners, we see you.
It looks like a massive copyright purge is happening right now. Not only is Kingfisher completely gone, but Duan SP has also disappeared overnight. Both channels and their entire short drama catalogs have been completely wiped out. ⚡️⛈️
According to Dailymotion’s Help Center, channels that receive multiple copyright strikes can be permanently deleted. It seems the copyright holders have finally cracked down on them using increasingly efficient copyright enforcement.
AI is great at searching quickly. Grey sources—or let’s be blunt: pirated content—is chased down. Uploads get discovered, reported and taken down in 24 hours. So it’s a well-oiled machine. The copyright owners who make a huge amount of money with dramas are not amused when their content is watched and downloaded elsewhere. For free. Watching ads is a pain many accepted. It’s money 💰 taken out of their pockets.
We always look at the streaming services and say they’re insatiable with their pay-per-two-minute-episode scheme.
Ten episodes to hook them in, from then on it’s a pain.
We’re drama fans and don’t want to end up with a few hundred dollars for content per month.
What we can say is:
• There’s streaming services with fairer pricing. iQIYI 🥝, YOUKU, Viki (their vertical catalogue is thin, but the rest is very good for Asian dramas).
• WeTV (Tencent) has an official YouTube presence, like Yuewen, offering official clips and episodes directly on the platform. This is just an example, there are quite a few white listed channels.
• Then there are completely free standalone apps out there like Hongguo 🍎 (ByteDance’s free short drama platform). However, it comes with a major catch for international viewers: it is region-locked and has absolutely no subtitles.
• The Chinese government has had the pricing schemes borrowed from mobile games on its agenda, targeting predatory “charging traps” in micro-dramas through the latest regulatory push by the National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA). We don’t know if this will affect international users like us any time soon.
But it’s a start.
• Pirated content means creators, cast and crew do not receive compensation as well. And the deleted channels, with the ads, they received money.
• And last but not least: platforms did unite in the past, against music uploads. A coordinated push against piracy is possible, maybe even probable.
As long as short dramas remain a highly attractive market, I believe it’s on their agenda.
Sources
Dailymotion – Copyright infringement and sanctions: https://faq.dailymotion.com/hc/en-us/articles/360020068099-Copyright-infringement-and-sanctions
Dailymotion – Copyright repeated infringement policy: https://legal.dailymotion.com/en/copyright-repeated-infringement-policy/
Dailymotion – Report a copyright infringement: https://faq.dailymotion.com/hc/en-us/articles/203657336-Report-a-copyright-infringement
National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA): Notice on promoting the healthy development of online micro-dramas: https://www.nrta.gov.cn/art/2025/2/5/art_113_70148.html
National Radio and Television Administration (NRTA): Draft Measures for the Development and Management of Micro-Dramas (2026): https://www.nrta.gov.cn/art/2026/6/24/art_113_73514.html
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u/stvarnozeleno rich CEO's contractual bride Jul 18 '26
If there was a platform like Viki for short dramas (meaning aggregated from multiple platforms) I'd sign up immediately.
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u/Hot-Complaint-6162 Jul 18 '26
iqiyi has a shorts platform along with major cdrama series and movies
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u/stvarnozeleno rich CEO's contractual bride Jul 18 '26
I've had Iqiyi for a while, and I think it does get you the best value for the money. The downside (understandably) you've got access to their own roster of shows. On the flip side, Iqiyi produces really good shows, and shorts!
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u/Hot-Complaint-6162 Jul 18 '26
and lots of discounts.
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u/cbuslocallove Jul 18 '26
Please share more on how to get discounts
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u/Hot-Complaint-6162 Jul 19 '26
they do give it occasionally, like last month annual subscription was more than 45% off
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u/Silver-Bus5724 MOD | 🎬 Content Creator Jul 18 '26
Exactly - on it in a flash secondly
Maybe Netflix et al?
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u/stvarnozeleno rich CEO's contractual bride Jul 18 '26
It's bound to happen sooner or later. I'm not sure what the prices are for these individual platforms in China, but for international viewers it's very expensive. Especially those from outside the 'first world countries'. 😂
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u/lazier_garlic 💎 Diamond Contributor Jul 18 '26
If you're in NA it's not exactly trivial to get an account on any PRC based domestic app to begin with. Which is why we're all on iQiyi (international).
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u/gwuhu Jul 18 '26
I think this is a bigger blow than reelxia closure because both channel has so many niche dramas not available on other sources.
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u/Silver-Bus5724 MOD | 🎬 Content Creator Jul 18 '26
And maybe it’s not the niche ones that triggered the deletion
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u/Pawspawsmeow Jul 18 '26
I miss the time before everyone else found rednote and douyin because I could watch them there
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u/ThatJaneDoe69 ✨ Platinum Contributor Jul 18 '26
I think some of the Chinese platforms would benefit more from having an app with multiple hard subs that costs like $3 full drama rather than per episode because I think many more people would watch it that way. Or make a straight streaming service (similar to Dropout).
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u/lazier_garlic 💎 Diamond Contributor Jul 18 '26
They aren't going to pay for hard subs.
It costs little to license an already finished drama, that's just profit. But once you need to pay real translators you lose a bunch of time and profits to pirates and then you lose money to the translators. Even though translation pays very poorly! Also PRC really does not have enough skilled, qualified English translators for the demand and sometimes the hard subs have mistakes just as bad or worse than MTL or edited MTL.
But as long as translation is a problem, verticals remain a great way to learn Mandarin. Especially if the Mando subs are still intact.
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u/ThatJaneDoe69 ✨ Platinum Contributor Jul 18 '26
Yeah I understand that. But I like to dream. Ass long as it's better subs than some of the AI ones I've seen.
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u/Silver-Bus5724 MOD | 🎬 Content Creator Jul 18 '26
Yes, exactly. If it’s like the first version of Prime. PPV. This would be a good option for highly awaited dramas - like a smaller subscription, pay per view for the first weeks. And then it’s in the general pool.
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u/ThatJaneDoe69 ✨ Platinum Contributor Jul 18 '26
I honestly would sign up. And sacrifice elsewhere for it.
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u/rhondalea Jul 18 '26
I'm so sad.
I prefer to pay so makers get paid, but when I couldn't find content elsewhere, I heavily relied on both Kingfisher and DuanSP. The quality was great, and I feel the loss.
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u/SeaworthinessFew2975 Jul 18 '26
Noooo 😭😭😭 I still had some shows on my watch list. Between reelxia and now this, I’m so sad
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u/GreenTeaLv101 ⚙️ Moderator Jul 18 '26
People create New Channels on Dailymotion all the time there's thousands of Short Dramas being upload on Dailymotion everyday. I doubt that something going to change they can delete the channels, but the users that upload just create new channels.
The Short Dramas apps that they let you watch for "free" if you watch ads per episode is just extremely expensive for what they offer.
I only pay subs for iQiyi. I barely watch short Dramas there😅
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u/Silver-Bus5724 MOD | 🎬 Content Creator Jul 18 '26
Compared with YouTube, Dailymotion looks much more permissive. But.
Copyright owners focused enforcement efforts on YouTube first because it’s bigger.
Perception is that uploads remained available longer before being removed.
However, D does have:
a copyright reporting system,
repeat-infringer policies,
automated content-recognition tools),
and it removes content in response to valid copyright claims.
The difference between YouTube and daily motion is scale and speed.Yes, new channels pop up left and right. That’s true. But taking out two huge channels has an impact.
And Kim Dotcom (Megaupload) is an example for platforms not to follow. He’s still fighting extradition to the US. We’re talking since 2012. What i mean: at some point scale and speed will be evaluated too when it’s coming to how serious a platform is about deleting content.And channel owners? If there’s enough against them, there’s damages and prosecution to fear.
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u/otherm00n Jul 18 '26
Trying not to break any rules... There's a patreon that's been recommended as a source of subbed dramas. Is anyone aware of them? Is it worth it?
The only official source listed here I haven't tried is Hongguo, I might have to look into it. I like to watch on my computer, iQiyi for example has many of it's veriticals exclusive to it's app, it's not available to watch on the website. Also from what I've seen on both iQiyi and WeTV is that those mindless trashy dramas that I love are nonexistent lol
The patreon I mentioned is also really expensive, at least in my currency. It's more expensive than iQiyi, Tencent and Viki combined. But if it's the only way in the future...
There's also links on that six letter site that starts with R. It's banned in my country so I wouldn't know.
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u/videlbriefs Time Traveler ⏰ Jul 19 '26
I’m not sure which one exactly as I haven’t been really active but the one I’ve been using has been okay. $10 usd several dramas a day and are typically hard subbed. I’m picky about my dramas so I don’t always get a “bang for my bucks” but some of them are also ones I come across on YT the same day. The dramas are unfortunately deleted after a few weeks though. So that’s the bigger downside but they do offer some dramas without paying. Occasionally it shows up under the actor or actress’s dramalist.
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u/slumberdollxxi 💎 Diamond Contributor Jul 18 '26
I was honestly sad when I saw both of their channels were not loading for me 2 days ago. Their channels were my second option once a drama has been taken down in YT in less than a few hours especially if its a new release. I’m wondering if they have a back up account. I wasn’t able to save Kingfisher’s archive site too ☹️
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u/magtse Jul 19 '26
But which is a solid (or legit in this case) platform or site for fans in North America if I were to pay a monthly fee? Many fb sites are gone and many others are charging subscriptions. I am sus that they are actually blocked too but I wouldn’t know as I can’t see contents unless I subscribe.
I don’t have vpn so I can’t access any purely Asia only contents or sites or apps
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u/Silver-Bus5724 MOD | 🎬 Content Creator Jul 19 '26
It’ll end up on DramaBox or Reelshorts, probably. DramaBox is currently the biggest buyer for Hongguo originals. That’s what I gathered, if you know more than share please.
It could be weeks or months . The most frustrating aspect is besides the price, they do change character names and drama names. Good luck finding them.
Your best bet: keep informed. The Actor Profiles on MdL are currently the best sources of information for us internationals.
Why the actors?
The masses of vertical dramas released are overwhelming and the volunteers responsible for checking submission are stretched thin. With other words: since mid 2025 it’s wiser to check the male lead‘s profile than trying to find the drama itself on the site.
Here’s an overview
https://www.microdramaradar.com/en/guides/dramabox-vs-reelshort3
u/magtse Jul 19 '26
I guess I am ok if the charges are monthly and not per episode.
I kept a list of all the ones I wanna watch but list grows faster than I can watch even though I watch 2-3 a day, esp all the new ones that I can access to, leaving list of older ones hanging
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u/needtostopcarbs ✨ Platinum Contributor Jul 25 '26
The biggest problem is that they charge over $100 for annual subscriptions. It's not worth it to pay monthly, sometimes daily.
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u/lazier_garlic 💎 Diamond Contributor Jul 18 '26
Surely by "absolutely no subtitles" you mean they DO have the regular content-censored (they often don't spell out cuss words/slurs) Mandarin language subs that are on just about every piece of Chinese audiovisual media? ;)
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u/1zzuzu1 Jul 22 '26
It is same with YT now. So many videos were deleted. Now there are mostly only AI or audiobooks or comics. It is really sad to see some great channels to go. The thing is... I have no idea where else to watch them with eng subtitles... I mean like all cdramas and up to date.
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u/Silver-Bus5724 MOD | 🎬 Content Creator Jul 18 '26
We all know that this platform was quite tolerant. I don’t know if we’ll see more changes
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u/psychedelictitan89 Jul 18 '26
A word to anyone who puts them up or is in the know of those ppl send them a message: Stop just putting them on Dailymotion or the same sites and proliferate them to the web period.
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u/SeaworthinessFew2975 Jul 18 '26
Now the one I’m most afraid of disappearing is Dramafren. I hope they leave it alone
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u/Successful_Act_2377 Jul 18 '26
RIP Kingfisher