Drama viewership ratings for the week of Dec. 14-20, 2015

by javabeans

Hey folks, we’re trying out a new feature here, posting the drama viewership rating numbers for the past week since we often find ratings discussions interesting. We’ve sometimes mentioned ratings for episodes in various drama recaps, but thought it might be helpful to collect them into one place.

So let us know what you think, and if the information is helpful, we’ll see how this list evolves going forward.

 
Drama viewership ratings for the week of Dec. 14-20, 2015

You may notice some blanks for Sunday numbers; that’s because I want to post these lists on Sundays as a way to look back at the week, but the numbers sometimes aren’t released until later in the day. Rest assured they’ll be filled in when the ratings are released.

Also, we’ll do our best to include the cable numbers, which are often but not always available. We’re only posting prime-time dramas; we won’t be including daily series, morning dramas, variety, reality, or other non-scripted programs in the listings. That would get to be too much, and limiting this to drama series keeps things straightforward and relevant to our interests.

This week, Bubblegum ended its run on tvN with a modest 1.179% rating. That’s about where it’s been hovering all season, down as low as 0.71% and up as high as 1.736%. It’s been a disappointing run for the introspective rom-com-melodrama, which has largely received favorable reviews but hasn’t been one of tvN’s bigger buzz stories. That designation goes to pop-culture phenom Answer Me 1988, which continues to knock it out of the park with ever-increasing ratings. Those numbers would be considered good on broadcast, and are positively monstrous for tvN.

On Wednesdays and Thursdays, the relatively new legal melo-thriller Remember—Son’s War has taken over the lead slot, after a promising premiere last week. It began in second place at 7.2% and rose to 9.7% for its second episode, then managed to move past 41-episode sageuk drama Master of Trade—Inn 2015 with its third and fourth episodes.

And over on the weekends, all is holding steady in the current pattern with the long-running family dramas. I do note that I Have a Lover is bringing in pretty strong reviews and word of mouth despite its last-place status in the ratings, with some award buzz for Kim Hyun-joo.

And that’s all for this week!