Aired during the World Cup, Song Joong Ki’s “Reborn Rich” is still showing signs of a hit drama
“Reborn Rich” is a drama worthy of competing with the World Cup.
After debuting on November 18th, JTBC’s new Friday-Saturday drama “Reborn Rich” has exceeded 10% in viewership ratings (according to Nielsen Korea) in just three episodes, and is showing a sharp rise in the second week of broadcast. JTBC, which decided to go with an unprecedented route of airing 3 episodes a week, has the chance to shake off the sluggishness of its dramas that has continued this year by producing a long-awaited hit.
“Reborn Rich” is a fantasy drama in which the main character played by Song Joong Ki, who was born into a poor family, was unjustly killed while working for a chaebol company. He is then reborn as the youngest son of that family. Although the drama has an unrealistic setting of reincarnation, the story of a life reversal in which a poor guy becomes a chaebol son is captivating viewers as one of the success formulas that attract K-drama fans.
The high viewer ratings of “Reborn Rich” stand out more because the drama is aired during the World Cup. As the Korean national team’s matches are still taking place and Asian teams continue to perform well, interest in the World Cup is rising.
If “Reborn Rich” continues its current trend of rising viewership ratings, it could become the “Bread, Love and Dreams” of the 2020s. “Bread, Love and Dreams” was aired during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and still recorded high viewership ratings of around 20% to 30%.
At that time, as the Korean national team advanced to the round of 16 for the first time, interest in soccer was as high as in 2002, but “Bread, Love and Dreams” captivated viewers regardless and eventually recorded historic ratings.
The number of viewers who are not interested in soccer or who enjoy both soccer and dramas is considerable, so when a drama with a special appeal brings them together, it often leads to a jackpot. However, it is clear that it is not easy for dramas to survive in competition with the World Cup, as most of the dramas broadcast during the World Cups in history have failed to leave much impression.
Although “Reborn Rich” is recording a rating of close to 15% at the time of episode 5, it still can’t be said that it has overcome the competition with the World Cup. This is because, during the Korea-Uruguay match, the combined ratings of the three terrestrial broadcasters were a whopping 40%.
These days, it is becoming almost impossible to exceed 20% in ratings due to the deepening decline of TV viewers. However, MBC, which ranked first among broadcasters in the Uruguay match, earned 18%.
“Reborn Rich” is a drama worthy of competing with the World Cup. It is a drama with many attractive elements. Like an all-star team in sports, “Reborn Rich” is filled with various formulas for success. First of all, the acting of most of the cast, especially Song Joong Ki and Lee Sung Min, is excellent, making it easy for viewers to immerse in the drama.
The Cinderella storyline, where a poor and socially underprivileged main character transforms into a chaebol, is just the beginning of the mechanisms for “Reborn Rich” to captivate viewers. This Cinderella story is combined with the fun of ‘the one who knows the future’. Song Joong Ki’s character lives in the present and is reincarnated as a child in the 1970s in a chaebol family with memories of the present.
He has meticulous and extensive memory as he showed in relation to his work as a secretary during his days working for the chaebol family. He accurately remembers important events in the future after being reincarnated in the past, and uses this to maximize for his benefits. Being born again as a chaebol son and spending only the money given to him can be boring, but Song Joong Ki in “Reborn Rich” is more interesting because of his individual struggles and achievements.
Although “Reborn Rich” is unfolding with such a rich combination of various success formulas, the investigation and revenge elements of finding the culprit who killed Song Joong Ki, and his love line with Shin Hyun Been hasn’t even started, so there are plenty of new stories to appear in the future.
“Reborn Rich” is well combined with attractive narratives. The pace is fast and the episodes are dynamic. It is reminiscent of a well-organized World Cup team. Watching “Reborn Rich” will be as interesting as watching a World Cup game to see if it can achieve a victory in the ratings competition with the World Cup.
Source: Daum.
