[HanCinema's News] Fewer Dramas Yield Stronger Ratings

The scaling back of drama production late last year has led to a surprising outcome. Though major networks have tried to cut back on dramas citing low ratings, recent projects have seen dramatic improvements in this area. "When the Camellia Blooms" hit ratings of 23.8% late last year.

But prior to that point, summer had been filled with projects that had underperformed relative to expectations and budgets. "Perfume", "Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung", "Justice", and "Doctor Detective" all struggled in the 4% to 7% range. Consequently, SBS decided to drop the Wednesday/Thursday timeslot, while KBS and MBC dropped the Monday/Tuesday timeslot from their lineups.

The decrease in dramas has led to a more careful vetting of which projects get greenlighted. This, coupled with the decrease in relative competition, has allowed for individual moments of outstanding performances. Both "Stove League" and "Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim Season 2" have now experienced ratings above 15%, showing that major successes can even be airing simultaneously in multiple timeslots.

However, one metric may be more negatively affected. "Extraordinary You" had poor ratings last year, but high interest on social media. The drama also had high download rates among younger viewers more inclined toward alternative means of viewing dramas that are not measured by traditional ratings systems. Still, for now, 2020 is looking to be a strong year for dramas.

Written by William Schwartz