for some reason, the trend is that saeguks typically have average to high ratings and high school dramas have low ratings.

Human rights below 1% - Expected. This show isn't for everyone. very hard to sit around for 1 hour for that kind of stuff. Tale of single mother and Wagebond - questionable choices indeed. Demand and supply right in front of you. Sympathy for writers.

Extraordinary You has a lot of competition but I hope it will have good ratings, the two first episodes were really great!

My country is gorgeous. I hope people tune into it. I’m loving it so far. All the actors are doing an amazing job so far. I’m going to gush about Yang Sejong for a sec. this boy can act. Woo DoHwan is absolutely fine and his costuming and styling is beautiful, but YSJ just emotes so well. And Jang Hyuk just commands the screen in the first scene. This bromance is already killing me.

My country premiere was very epic and solid, i give special credit for director kim jin won for his work. His directing is so good. there was no boring scene at all, and that is an achievment itself because this is saeguk drama. And he captured real battle, not a mere battle with very little number of soldier or too clear war zone. I’m looking forward for next episodes.

KBS must be very happy these days....

MY COUNTRY's premiere was everything I could have hoped for. It effectively set the stage for future developments and reeled me right in. MY COUNTRY is shaping up to rival the excellence achieved by NOKDU FLOWER and HAECHI earlier this year. Nice to see the uptick to 3.8% for the second episode.

In comparison, JTBC's other currently-airing show is also a sageuk, FLOWER CREW: JOSEON MARRIAGE AGENCY, which is hovering around 3%. That seems pretty good for a show that hasn't been getting a lot of love in comparison to sageuks ROOKIE HISTORIAN and just-launched TALE OF NOKDU. I've been enjoying it.

Last week, tvN's GREAT SHOW deftly pulled the chestnuts out of the fire just as politics was threatening to take over, which may have accounted for the jump to 2.4%. This is another show that doesn't seem to be getting much love despite the engaging character arcs and solid performances.

tvN's PEGASUS MARKET continues to dole out the metered dose of episodic whackiness that I need. It airs once a week in the late Friday night dead zone, so the fact that it garnered 3.3% is pretty darned good. (TOP STAR YOO BAEK had earlier occupied this same slot.)

Yay for WHEN THE CAMELLIA BLOOMS! I'm thrilled to bits to see its well-deserved upward trajectory in the ratings. Although it looks like a rom-com, there's a murder mystery running in the background. Conformity to social norms -- and the ensuing wangtta in its breach -- prominently figures in it, too, which may be a stumbling block for international viewers. Great performances by a dandy cast.

VAGABOND is doing well. I dropped it because I need all my wits about me for MY COUNTRY. But I enjoyed the action in the first 2-3 episodes.

Graceful Family had a whooping 7% on its Wednesday episode and 6% on Thursday! 👏👏

This is such a great feat as MBN is a much smaller cable network than TVN and JTBC. This is perhaps MBN’s highest viewership rating. Congratulations my makjang peeps! Hope MBN rewards you a vacation!

+++
Hopefully Extraordinary You’d ratings pick up 😞

Yay for Tale of Nokdu. May its rise continue despite the premiere of VIP this week. I have been quite worried for the extremely low ratings romcoms are getting lately because I am not a heavy drama, sageuk, horror or melodrama person. I can manage a good drama every so often but majority of my viewing is composed of things that relax, entertain and amuse me so I can escape the heaviness of real life (news is ready to depress one on any given day!) So I am in constant fear of less romcom offerings when the ratings drop too low. The other thing to cheer Nokdu for is a Monday-Tuesday drama getting such a rating. Monday-Tuesday ratings have been depressed for so long that the networks are slowly withdrawing from it. Nokdu is the last Monday-Tuesday drama for KBS for the year. Its next announced drama for that time slot at this point is Welcome in March 2020. That's 3-4 months away from the finale of Nokdu. MBC is on an indefinite hiatus on Monday-Tuesdays after the wrap up of Welcome 2 Life recently and SBS is only returning from its Monday-Tuesday break after the conclusion of The Secret Life of My Secretary back in June this week with VIP. If Monday-Tuesday dramas continue to do poorly I am afraid cheaper variety shows will take over permanently.

I feel for poor Extraordinary You as it is facing stiff competition against When Camellia Blooms. I think it is a tough spot for it as the Camellia has the advantages of a two week head start, big name Gong Hyo Jin and a storyline to appeal the parts of the Korean population who still watch their dramas on TV. Extraordinary You is a show that would appeal to a younger, manhwa reading demographic who would watch their dramas on the web.

I gave up on Vagabond but it continues its rise. I suppose the TV watching demographic I mentioned above missed their golden boy Lee Sung Gi and will watch it girl Suzy despite her crappy acting in a crappy drama as long as there are explosions.

This may be a stupid question, but when they compute ratings is it just for Korea viewers or for real-time broadcast, or do they include people watching it on-demand on legit places like Netflix, Viki, Viu etc?

I am really interested in Extraordinary You but I thought it wasn't licensed by anyone at first. However, it turns out the name is hyphenated on Viki: Extra-ordinary You.

I am happy for the ratings When the Camellia Blooms has received. I know this might not by everyone's cup of tea but it has so nice cast and crew team. Though I might hold some suspension regarding the female lead's acting, I am glad that more and more people will realize how well Kang Haneul really is in terms of acting. I haven't recognized this before (there were so few scenes of him in Misaeng) but he almost outshone everyone in this very show.