Recent K-Drama Bumper Crop Hit By Poor Ratings

South Korea’s three major broadcasters, KBS, MBC, and SBS have all recently released new dramas, but to dismal ratings, sparking heated discussion on Korean online forums.

K-Dramas with Worst Ratings

Netizen comments noted that weekday dramas such as Barney, 24-Hour, Crushology 101 and Spring of Four Seasons have totally flopped and have already dropped to the 1% range, remarking that even the posters looked “unappealing” and “like web dramas”, describing them as “shallow and repetitive”, with “barely any chemistry between the cast”.

Attributing their poor ratings to predictable plots, poor acting and lack of chemistry between the leads, they lamented the lack of a solid plot concept, noting that these dramas would never have made it onto terrestrial TV a few years back. Many also pointed out the weak cast, with viewers commenting they could only recognise Jung Eun-ji.

They also felt that the systemic issue of low drama quality was not only limited to the big three stations and that “The Divorce Insurance is the same — tvN isn’t doing any better”. Attributing the issue to a lack of investment budget and resources, it was likely that “OTT platforms snatched up everything”, leaving the television dramas’ declining production values.

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