The competition between Han Ji Min, Nam Goong Min and Kim Rae Won “Weekend dramas are beginning to show differences in ratings”
Weekend dramas are beginning to show differences in ratings. Previously, they had been recording similar ratings in the 5~6% range, but now they are starting to diverge.
According to the ratings research company Nielsen Korea on August 20th, episode 6 of MBC’s Friday-Saturday drama “My Dearest” (written by Hwang Jin Young, directed by Kim Sung Yong and Cheon Soo Jin) ranked first among weekend dramas with a rating of 8.8%. This marked an increase of 0.4% from the previous day’s episode 5 (8.4%), solidifying its position as the No.1 weekend drama.
On the same day, episode 6 of SBS’ Friday-Saturday drama “The First Responders Season 2” (written by Min Ji Eun, directed by Shin Kyung Soo) recorded a slightly decreased rating of 6.1%, dropping by 0.2%. The sudden death of one of the main characters, Bong Do Jin (played by Son Ho Jun), caused a slight drop in ratings, but regular viewers still stayed tuned.
JTBC’s Saturday-Sunday drama “Behind Your Touch” (written by Lee Nam Gyu, directed by Kim Seok Yoon) garnered a rating of 5.5% for episode 3. Episode 4, broadcast the next day, saw a slight increase in ratings to 7.0%, but it still struggled to compete against “My Dearest” and “The First Responders Season 2” on Saturdays.
“My Dearest” and “The First Responders Season 2” premiered on the same day (August 4th), followed by JTBC’s “Behind Your Touch” a week later (August 12th). The competition featured top actors such as Kim Rae Won, Nam Goong Min and Han Ji Min, promising an engaging weekend drama showdown.
“My Dearest” is one of MBC’s most anticipated works in the second half of the year. Positioned as an MBC-style historical drama following works like “Moon Embracing the Sun” and “The Red Sleeve”, it was anticipated to revive MBC’s weekend drama lineup. Furthermore, it drew attention for being the new project of Nam Goong Min, who dominated drama awards for 2 consecutive years with MBC’s “The Veil” and SBS’ “One Dollar Lawyer”.
“The First Responders Season 2” is the second season of “The First Responders”, which ended in favorable reviews with the highest viewership rating of 10.3%. With the success of season 1, “The First Responders Season 2” was half-guaranteed. In addition, as previous works such as “Taxi Driver 2”, “Dr. Romantic 3” and “Revenant” lightly exceeded 10%, “The First Responders Season 2” is expected to continue this flow.
“Behind Your Touch” brought together director Kim Seok Yoon, writer Lee Nam Gyu and Han Ji Min after 4 years. Although it had a favorable starting position as the follow-up to “King the Land”, it faced controversy prior to its airing due to concerns about the setup in which the main character, Bong Ye Bun (played by Han Ji Min), has to touch someone’s buttocks to activate her psychometric ability. These concerns lingered even after the work started airing.
Initially, on the day of their respective premieres, these 3 dramas had similar viewership ratings: “My Dearest” at 5.2%, “The First Responders Season 2” at 6.0% and “Behind Your Touch” at 5.3%. However, over the course of a week, the ratings gaps between them started to widen.
It should be noted that there are still many episodes left for each drama. Viewers are focusing on whether “My Dearest” can maintain its top spot and whether “Behind Your Touch” can recover from its Saturday ratings slump.
Source: Daum
