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Drama viewership ratings for the week of Sep. 23-29, 2019

We have three new dramas this week, with even more on the way (yeah, I’m freaking out, too). Nothing new for the Monday-Tuesday timeslot just yet, as we first had to say goodbye to Let Me Hear Your Song and Welcome 2 Life. They finished with 4 percent and 6 percent respectively, neither being their highest ratings. To be fair, this particular timeslot doesn’t get the most viewers.

On Wednesday, noona romance When the Camellia Blooms hit double digits, in its second week no less. Joining this timeslot was office drama Miss Lee, which premiered with 2.6 percent and later jumped to 3.2 percent. The drama is already performing better than its predecessor When the Devil Calls Your Name.

Finally, over the weekend, we said goodbye to the three heroines (and drama fanatics) of Be Melodramatic. We then welcomed Mother of Mine‘s successor Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life and Arthdal Chronicles’ successor Melting Me Softly. The latter being Ji Chang-wook’s first drama post-army, I was happy to see it get decent numbers.

Drama viewership ratings for the week of Sep. 23-29, 2019

Ep. # Station Rating
Monday, Sep. 23
Let Me Hear Your Song 29 KBS 3.0%
Let Me Hear Your Song 30 KBS 3.5%
Welcome 2 Life 29 MBC 4.5%
Welcome 2 Life 30 MBC 6.1%
Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency 3 JTBC 3.4%
The Great Show 9 tvN 2.2%
Tuesday, Sep. 24
Let Me Hear Your Song 31 KBS 3.6%
Let Me Hear Your Song 32 KBS 4.0%
Welcome 2 Life 31 MBC 4.2%
Welcome 2 Life 32 MBC 6.0%
Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency 4 JTBC 3.5%
The Great Show 10 tvN 2.1%
Wednesday, Sep. 25
When the Camellia Blooms 5 KBS 8.6%
When the Camellia Blooms 6 KBS 10.0%
Rookie Historian Gu Hae-ryung 37 MBC 4.0%
Rookie Historian Gu Hae-ryung 38 MBC 6.2%
Secret Boutique 3 SBS 5.0%
Running Investigators 3 OCN 1.2%
Miss Lee 1 tvN 2.6%
Thursday, Sep. 26
When the Camellia Blooms 7 KBS 7.7%
When the Camellia Blooms 8 KBS 10.0%
Rookie Historian Gu Hae-ryung 39 MBC 4.5%
Rookie Historian Gu Hae-ryung 40 MBC 6.6%
Secret Boutique 4 SBS 4.9%
Running Investigators 4 OCN 1.1%
Miss Lee 2 tvN 3.2%
Friday, Sep. 27
Vagabond 3 SBS 9.3%
Be Melodramatic 15 JTBC 1.5%
Pegasus Market 2 tvN 3.4%
Saturday, Sep. 28
Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life 1 KBS 17.1%
Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life 2 KBS 19.6%
Golden Garden 41 MBC 5.7%
Golden Garden 42 MBC 9.2%
Golden Garden 43 MBC 8.8%
Golden Garden 44 MBC 9.3%
Vagabond 4 SBS 10.2%
Be Melodramatic 16 JTBC 1.8%
Hell Is Other People 7 OCN 2.0%
Melting Me Softly 1 tvN 2.5%
Sunday, Sep. 29
Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life 3 KBS 20.2%
Beautiful Love, Wonderful Life 4 KBS 24.1%
Hell Is Other People 8 OCN 2.7%
Melting Me Softly 2 tvN 3.2%

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Considering how boring it got in its second week I'm surprised at Vagabond's ratings.

I would have liked better ratings for Melting Me Softly but it started quite slow. Getting the leads to wake up 20 years later then going with flashbacks would have been better.

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Because of Suzy & LSG, and all that hypes .. I only watched episode 1, and it's not my style of drama

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Can @katakwasabi do a montage of SSR scenes only? I can breeze through entire episodes happily, and pretend he's the lead.

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I might do that. I've posted Ki Tae Woong's ep 3 entrance gif on my wall 🤣.

I need more material to make gifs. Currently his airtime is small 😅.

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I don't understand why Be Melo has done so poorly...such a clever show, yet warmhearted, giving you well-rounded characters and plenty to think about. Maybe viewers were put off by the in-jokes about PPL and the industry in general, but honestly when I see that even The Great Show did better it's really discouraging.

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At the very least, K-netizens are applauding it too, so the producers will know that their project was worth the risk!

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Advertisers probably won’t though...

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For me, it was a niche drama that always aimed for a smaller, smarter audience (and poked fun at itself constantly, since the plot centered around producing a quirky drama that didn't win contests or ratings, but was eventually talked about).

I just wish there was another industry-accepted system for measuring success, aside from ratings.

In digital marketing we measure Share of Voice (positive/negative/neutral internet comments that reflect a target audience's qualitative impressions of a brand) but these involve expensive analytical tools. So it isnt about reach or ratings but reputation and response. Maybe the stations should look into them?

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That's what I love about JTBC. There is varieties in their choice of dramas and some are not meant to appeal to the general audience. It's not always about money but their reputation too.

AGE OF YOUTH had low ratings but they did a 2nd season for the small audience who loved the 1st.

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Same thought... jtbc is very "brave" in producing unique drama, even if it doesn't have high rating. Good at pointing AoY as the example... :)

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I love that JTBC encourages new, unique and good content and we find a gem here and there even if it isn't the usual ratings buzz show. I still remember how AOY got 1 percent ratings but an executive praised it in an interview hence the show even got a second season. Tvn used to do that too but well now they are just focused on ratings (to the extent that they blamed Arthdal's failure on SJK's divorce even though it sunk in ratings way before that).

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I agree, it was a niche drama. Just like you know high school dramas are targeted towards a specific audience. Plus it is somewhat a known fact but idk how true it holds now, that the tv watching audience is usually women in their 40s and 50s. So this show nonetheless wasn't targeted to them either. But unfortunately the director did look disappointed that they didn't garner good ratings because online reaction and buzz doesn't bring the advertisements money.

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You know, I hear about the "ahjumma" audience all the time, and it really puzzles me because these are my contemporaries. I am 58, but the dramas I am supposed to like - sageuks and 100-episode family soapers and sweet romances with nary a kiss - really they bore me to tears. Is it because I am not Korean? I just don't understand it.

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Same! Well, I'm 40+ but I have the brain of a 20 year old (at least when it comes to Kdramas). I'm Asian but not Korean, and my "Western" playlist leans towards Lucifer, anything Ryan Gosling, and skincare and lipstick Youtube reviews. I am pretty sure most Netflix/Spotify/FB algorithms have given up on what to recommend to me.

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@bluekitchen
I'm sure that comment was off the cuff but I recommend having different profiles. I have three - Asian dramas, sci/fantasy, and what I can only call "that weird mood I'm in when I want to watch romcoms and Hallmark movies".

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@leetennant you know, that is true! One day I want to watch silly romcoms, the next day I'm bingeing alien/political conspiracy theories and serial murders. Same day I'm looking for recipes for keto-friendly burritos. What is wrong with me? LOL.

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Happy for Vagabond. Finally Ki Tae Woong appeared and I can't be more happier. Hahaha

I assume something happened on Saturday? Because the ratings for KBS weekender is quite low compared to the previous drama. And Thaw Me/Melty only got 2.5%. 😱

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Can I skip episodes 1 and 2 and go straight to ep 3? I just want to watch SSR. You can summarise eps 1 and 2 for me. I think LSG and Suzy do spy stuff right? I don't need to know what, or why.

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In summary *spoilers ahead*: Lee Seung Gi gets work as a stuntman, nearly dies from several beautiful crazy stunts (you should watch that, ep. 1 first 5 minutes), quits his job, and is a hardworking Candy Taxi Driver when his nephew dies in a plane crash near Morocco. He finds a video uploaded by his nephew on the plane with Scar Guy in the background. So he goes to Morocco with the bereaved family members, meets Suzy who is or is not a good NIS agent, accidentally bumps into Scar Guy in the airport (!) and starts running. He keeps running. Sometimes he's incredibly smart and sometimes he's incredibly dumb. No SSR in eps 1-2.

I will also wait for @katakwasabi's SSR gifs :)

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Legit made me laugh like crazy. Omg. Thank you. Who is Scar Guy? Is he a bad guy? Isn't SSR the bad guy? Oh, wait. @katakwasabi says ge's a Sad Guy. So there are two Guys? One is Scar Guy, one is Sad Guy.

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Scar Guy is a terrorist who was on the plane (and somehow survived) but we don't know who he works for *sigh*

SSR is indeed a sad guy. His sad look kills me more than the ridiculous-looking assassins in this drama. I think the rumour that he is a good guy *gasp* is true.

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Not only is SSR a good guy, he is a Righteous Man! He is much better as a villain.

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@hebang hahahaha! Let him be a good guy~ It's time kdramaland find a new crop of villains to grace our screens. Yoo Teo was a scene stealer in ep 1-2. I hope scarface is not dead yet and will reappear. Haha!

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Thank you @wishfultoki. That summary was beautiful *tears*. @yyishere scarface is one of the many villains, SSR is sad looking guy 😔. He is just too idealistic for the corrupted world he is in. But I already like his character though. He looks like Royal Hotness but he's not. Haha! I will gif Ki Yae Woong's little screentime and tag you both 😆.

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Wagebond is quite an easy watch. Audience know the reckless writer isn't into logic. They are in for Tv action and getting it. In between if you pull some blonde jokes on heroine that's it for humour. Question Hour for the audience.
Human Rights won't go above 1.5% even touching that mark can be considered an achievement. Same for Melo

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I watched the first episode of Beautiful love wonderful life and it is really good, and I can see more of Kim jae Young!

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Glad that Be Melo's ratings increased on its finale ep. Not the highest ratings and I wished they've gotten 2.0% but the show is being recognized by Korean netizens (show and characters are always trending on Naver. Target audience prefers streaming than watching the drama live. Maybe it's the Friday timeslot).

I will miss this gem. Hopefully we get a second season but I'm okay with not having one.

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Me too!, but happy how they had a great time shooting. Watched the BTS of the last shooting, and Han Ji-eun cried that it's over... I love how the girls ended with being so closed to each other. I hope they will continue to become friends....

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Really happy that the housemates became really close (all four of them). It was really funny when Yun Ji-on came back just to eat the ramyeon they cooked in the BTS! HAHA. I'm looking forward to the future projects of these four and I really hope that they work again with the writer/director.

A really fun fact: Gong Myung's character, Jae-hoon, has the same name as his character in Extreme Job by the same Writer/Director. Hope he gets to have a happier ending in his future projects. He deserves a lead role tbh.

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Yeah.. the ending was showing that all of them have moved forward with their lives but it's kinda sad when they're pondering when they can exercise when they get back together with the fact that Eun-joong is heading to Europe then to Morocco to meet Director Kim; and Hyo-bong has moved in with Moonsoo (as they're newly wed). But I love with the serial message that no matter what life you have or been through, we need to move on as the world also goes around.

I'm a little bit sad that Gong Myung's character hasn't had much interaction with the rest of the housemates.... :(

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There is not enough BTS clips in Melo. I just hope that Gong Myung became closer with the cast off screen!

I really loved the message at the end of the finale episode. So real and so good.

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I watched Extreme Job a few weeks ago when Melo had so many food scenes and remember thinking, "What is with Gong Myung and fried chicken?" 😂

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Gong Myung and fried chicken will always be the endgame. I've watched most of his dramas and he is always paired with fried chicken that's why he never gets the girl. Happy to Die, Extreme Job, and Melo. #GongMyungCurse

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I dont think Vagabond ratings are good. They havent increase since last week, kinda worrying for a drama with so much hype and budget
Camellia with the same ratings kinda snap, increase and dont have 1/3 of the vagabond hype

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Yeah, reaching 10% is good these days but given the budget and hype the expectations about had to be higher than that.

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If I could give "Melo Suits Me" 100 percent of rating, I'll happily give it to it.... After "My Mister", this is the serial I remember most of the dialogue and quotes. They're so meaningful and hitting me so hard. One of the dialogue I remembered is between Jin-joo and her sister when she asked Jin-joo how long she'll be poor... And Jin-joo answered "your whole life...." It's kinda sad, but it's true. As a human, we'll be facing a never ending life circle which will need you attention and spending, LoL.

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The numbers are getting better for MBC, KBS and SBS for their weekday dramas. These are higher compared to how their previews dramas performed. I hope the news shows are able to maintain it.

I see that most people here in Dramabeans don't like Vagabond but I'm really enjoying it so far.

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Me, too.

OTOH, I just can't muster up the interest in Melting Me Softly, despite the lovely JCW, because the plot sounds so tired, unoriginal, boring and - dare I say - silly? Even the more honest JCW fans seem to admit that the first episode was totally mediocre (which means it actually sucked, but it's JCW, so the Viki "rating" for the drama was 9.9 before the first episode ever aired. I understand the high ratings for crap on Viki now, after seeing a few "coming soon" dramas get 10s and 9.9s based on the fanaticism over the MLs).

My favorite drama since The Untamed ended was Welcome2Life. My first Rain drama, and he was everything and more than what I expected!

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I just watched the first 2 episodes of Melting Me Softly, and it was pretty paint-by-numbers. We've got the Candy, we've got the Chaebol son whose mama is busy trying to marry him off, we've got the girlfriend with some questionable values (really, WHO is supposed to feel sorry for her, sobbing away in her anchorwoman's seat, when she stopped looking for the "love of her life" because she got the job she wanted? grrr). Like The Great Show, it adds manic music and physical hyjinks to situations that, when you think about them, are not funny at all, so there is this huge disconnect between me and the show.

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Very well put and a rather more measured and mature response than my "this is awful, everything is terrible, I want to die".

The music and physical comedy entirely ruined any emotional resonance of the first two episodes and as a consequence I care about nobody in the drama - not even the leads.

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Oh no😪 I haven't watched any episodes yet, but I hoped it would be good because I've had a soft spot for Ji Chang Wook ever since Healer (and watched Suspicious Partner mainly because he looked SO CUTE in glasses, LOL).

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I watched the first 2 episodes of Melting Me Softly because its JCW. Unfortunately, its not so good. The lovely close-up shots of JCW helped me survive the 2 episodes. I will continue to try watching and hopefully it improves. I've been meaning to watch Welcome2Life as I usually like Rain's dramas. I'll find time =) I've watched so many dramas the past 4 months and loved most of them. I'm currently enjoying Graceful Family, Tale of Nokdu, Extra-Ordinary You, The Great Show, When the Camellia Blooms, Flower Crew, Vagabond and Strangers from Hell. I can't wait for My Country to start!

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Graceful Family has made my top
5 dramas of 2019 list, as well as ranking in my favorite/best dramas of all time. I adored every single makjangy second of it, from start to finish. It even gave me some VERY unexpected tears in the last episode.

I am loving Tale of Nokdu ( my first Jang Dong Yoon drama, and oh my! How can such a handsome man, with such a killer body, be such a pretty girl??? This is the most charming, most convincing “secret gender bender” role I’ve seen since Coffee Prince, and the FL in that was so boyish that I never thought she was a particularly attractive girl, but I absolutely adored her character (except for the “cute girl who eats like a hog trope, which I find disgusting, and not one iota cute) and was completely sold on why Gong Yoo’s character fell in love with her. I particularly loved that, despite her lack of femininity, she took to romance like a duck takes to water, and the romantic scenes were convincingly passionate, and some of the sexiest in a Kdrama, particularly of that time frame, when there are so many frigid FL characters, who display the closed mouth, fish eyed kissing that destroys any sexual chemistry and romance of a first (and sadly, often a second, third, etc) kiss.

Also love Vagabond Lee Seung-gi is awesome, and Suzy is gorgeous and doing very well in this role.

I got immediately bored with Flower Crew and dropped it, and am not watching the others you named yet, but they are on my list.

Am I the only person who hates watching shows as they air? The long waits for episodes to air, and then sometimes annoyingly long waits for subs to go up, really affects my enjoyment of watching. I’m spoiled by being relatively new (mid-2017) to Kdramaland and Cdramaland, and so got immediately spoiled by watching the classics, and best-of-the-best dramas, which had all long been completed, and thus I was never forced to wait a week or two to find out What Happens Next. (But admittedly, the in-time discussions here are great! I read recaps here of every older show I watched, but missed out on the conversations as the dramas aired).

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