Although some of the following K-dramas are well received by international viewers, for many reasons, they perform poorly in their home country.
Viewership rating is one of the key factors to determine the success of a Korean drama. 2021 saw the success of many hits on television and OTT platforms. However, there are also many dramas that failed miserably in terms of ratings despite getting praised for their storylines.
1. IDOL: The Coup
Not only in 2021, IDOL: The Coup is probably the Korean drama with the worst ratings in history. Throughout all 12 episodes, the rating consistently stayed between 0.4 to 0.8% and never reached 1%. Korean viewers think the drama flopped hard because a storyline centering on idols is too outdated and not appealing enough to the audience.
2. Imitation
Before being “dethroned” by IDOL: The Coup, Imitation was the Korean drama with the lowest rating in TV history. Similar to IDOL: The Coup, Imitation depicts life stories revolving around Kpop idols. Despite featuring famous idols in the cast like Jiyeon (T-Ara), Hwi Young and Chani (SF9), Imitation only recorded an average rating of 0.4% to 1.7%.
3. Dark Hole
Prior to its broadcast, Dark Hole was expected to be the next sci-fi thriller hit of OCN, a cable network famous for producing psychological thriller dramas. However, for some reason, Dark Hole ended up being a flopped drama in Korea with poor ratings of only 0.5% to 1.25%.
4. Chimera
Despite gathering a cast with many famous names like Squid Game‘s Park Hae Soo, OCN’s year-end crime fiction drama Chimera still recorded low ratings ranging from 0.8% to 2.1%. With only 2 episodes left, can this detective series turn the situation around?
5. Oh! Master
Not only entangled in controversies when the male lead Lee Min Ki was said to be 100% nude on television but Oh! Master also recorded disappointing ratings from 0.9% to 2.6% although it was broadcast on the public network MBC. Although in recent years, MBC has continuously recorded low viewership ratings, a major flop like Oh! Master is still a rare case.
