Constant rating in the 1% range, the cruel history of drama series about the entertainment industry

Dramas dealing with behind-the-scenes stories in the entertainment industry have failed to make an impression one after another, drawing negative attention to the material.

tvN’s new Friday-Saturday drama “Shooting Star,” which has raised curiosity by claiming it will reveal the entertainment industry’s “inside story,” has started with a low audience rating of 1%. Recently, dramas dealing with behind-the-scenes stories of the entertainment industry, such as stories of stars and managers, have failed to hit a decent rating one after another, drawing critical attention to the material, saying, “It just doesn’t work anymore.“

“Shooting Star,” which first aired on April 22nd, is a love story between the head of the public relations team at an entertainment agency and a top star. As reporters’ calls continued, the joys and sorrows of agency employees who had to pay attention to the stars’ every move were depicted in a variety of ways.

However, there is a response among viewers, saying, “It is interesting, but it is difficult to empathize.” In the real-time comment box, there are also comments that the love between a star and their agency employee can rarely reach a happy end. Some entertainment insiders said, “The entertainment industry workers who are familiar with the situation of broadcasters may sympathize, but it is questionable whether other viewers will be interested,” adding, “It is easy to see it as ‘their own world, not ours’.”

There is another drama about the entertainment industry that had experienced a crushing defeat in ratings. KBS 2TV’s “IDOL“, which aired last year about the fierce competition among idol groups, had only 1% of viewership. tvN’s “Entourage,” a remake of the American drama “Entourage” in 2016 which depicts the stories of people in entertainment agencies, also ended with a low audience rating of 2.3%.

This is a distinctly different pattern from the 2000-2010s when similar subjects were still fresh to viewers. SBS’s “On Air” in 2008 and KBS 2TV’s “Producer” in 2015 were big hits, recording 25.4% and 17.7% of viewers, respectively, with stories about broadcasting producers and stars. Ha Jae-geun, a pop culture critic, said on April 27th, “Recently, it is difficult to attract viewers’ attention just by talking about the stories behind the scenes through various channels such as the Internet community and SNS. We need to think about solving the subject with a different perspective.”