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

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

Ep. #  Station  Rating
 Monday, Dec. 14
 Oh My Venus 9  KBS 8.7%
 Dazzling Temptation 21  MBC  9.0%
 Six Flying Dragons 21  SBS  13.3%
 Bubblegum 15  tvN 0.766%
 Tuesday, Dec. 15
 Oh My Venus 10 KBS  8.9%
 Dazzling Temptation 22 MBC 9.6%
 Six Flying Dragons 22 SBS  13.9%
 Bubblegum 16 tvN  1.179%
Wednesday, Dec. 16
 Master of Trade—Inn 2015 24 KBS 10.6%
 Sweet Savage Family 9 MBC 5.8%
 Remember—Son’s War 3 SBS  11.7%
Thursday, Dec. 17
 Master of Trade—Inn 2015 25 KBS 11.6%
 Sweet Savage Family 10 MBC 5.2%
 Remember—Son’s War 4 SBS 12.1%
Friday, Dec. 18
 Answer Me 1988 13 tvN 13.4%
Saturday, Dec. 19
 Answer Me 1988 14 tvN  16.0%
 Please, Mom 37 KBS  25.7%
 Mom 31 MBC  17.1%
 My Daughter Geum Sa-wol 31 MBC 27.9%
 I Have a Lover 31 SBS  7.1%
Sunday, Dec. 20
 Please, Mom 38 KBS 32.4%
 Mom 32 MBC 19.2%
 My Daughter Geum Sa-wol 32 MBC 29.7%
 I Have a Lover 32 SBS 7.4%

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!

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Good idea, jb! The rating discussions are always interesting. I would like to look more.

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This is a great feature! Would totally love to check in for the ratings every week where I can overview all in one place.

I don't watch Reply 1988 (maybe next time), but wow its viewership ratings of 16%. That's a huge number for tvN! It must be really good?

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What's considered as good ratings for a cable drama?

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It's all relative, and changing day by day (or at least month to month). It used to be that 1% was a good cable marker, and you'll see mention of that if you're reading old Dramabeans articles from a couple years ago. Then there were some hits that got in the 2% to 4% range, and expectations ticked up. JTBC has also had some great successes with 4% ratings, but more that hover around 1%.

But once Answer Me and Na PD came to tvN that basically changed the entire playing field. Now a Na PD show is almost expected to hit 8-10%. Answer Me might even hit 20% in the coming weeks. But if you're not them, a tvN success might be in the 3%-5% range.

For now.

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But you're talking about Friday-Saturday timeslot, right? I have never seen 3-4% for Monday-Tuesday. But it will probably change with "Cheese in the trap" webtoon adaptation

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There have been some on Monday-Tuesday. I believe Flower Boy Next Door hit 3%, for instance. Answer Me 1997 was a Mon-Tues and hit 7.5%.

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"Flower boy" has reached maximum 1,69% (tvN + OnStyle, not even tvN only). And average was around 1,25% (tvN + OnStyle). And for "Answer 1997" they have reached 7,5% only for finale episode, with average for all series 3%, which was phenomenal for this timeslot and haven't been repeated by any other show.

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I'm talking about "Flower boy next door" and 1,69% was for one episode only.

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princi_86 I think javabeans is talking about one time ratings, not averages.

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Secret Love Affair (Mon/Tues) JtBC 5.3%

A drama's highest episode is what's recorded in the all time top ratings. Doesn't matter if it's just one time.

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I can recall 2 dramas, Twenty Again got 4-7% and Oh My Ghostess 3-8%.
So basically if a tvN drama gets this ratings I'll automatically start watching -I know ratings aren't everything but still-

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Misaeng also had pretty huge ratings for cable. Between 5 and 8%.

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Yeah, basically if something on TvN hits 5% it's really making waves. Answer Me is like Game of Thrones on HBO success level.

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More like AMC's "The Walking Dead" - as GoT is on a separate subscriber channel.

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could you perhaps put the broadcasting station where it airs next to every drama? I for one don´t know all of them.
sorry for the trouble.

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ah sorry, they are there, I did not notice. sorry again

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Do you think the phenomena of cable drama is increasing because of more audience's subscription to tvN? Since they pay, they probably have more devotion to watch cable than public channel.

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Depends on days and timeslot. Most of main cable dramas compete in Friday-Sat 8 pm and for this time 3-4% is already good. For Monday-Tuesday late insomniac timeslot 1,7-2% is appropriate.

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So with Reply 1988 reaching 16% on a Fri/Sat slot - that's phenomenal?

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I guess so

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It is because it's not on a network channel but cable. As far as I know it's the first cable drama with such ratings. This during a time where weekday network dramas would jump with joy with such ratings is phenomenal indeed. Episode 14 ratings of Answer Me are higher than the highest ratings on Mon-Tue and Wed-Thu dramas.

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That's HUGE for cable,they are beyond now of national drama,if u hit 5% in cable you are amazing and the drama is considered a succes imagine 16% most cable only dream of that,i think it's the equivalent of nation 40%-50% rating more or less,hope i'm not wrong

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Yes, that’s phenomenal! Not to mention that it's the highest rating cable drama ever.
That took the top spot from Answer Me 1994 (11.9%).

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Most free network channels can't hit 16% or anything close to it, for cable to do it is pretty insane

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YES.

Even Producer's highest episode rating was 17-odd percent (it aired on Friday-Saturdays on KBS, in the same time slot as the Answer Mes for tvN). And it had a massive star cast, unlike the unknowns of AM.

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AM1988's popularity has already helped the bank accounts of its lead actors, in particular Hyeri - who's gotten a lot more CF offers even w/ her asking rate being bumped up considerably.

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Back in the day.. well not that far back in the day.. Around the time Reply 1997 aired, 1% is the passing grade for cable and 3% means it's a hit. Getting over 5% and the people at TvN start salivating. Nowadays, I think 3% is the passing grade and 5% is a hit. TvN doesn't even bat an eye unless you start hitting double digits. lol

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I think we should consider also, that Reply 1997 was a Mon-Tue drama and Reply 1988 is a Fri-Sat drama.

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Nowadays 2 percent seems to be the standard at which a cable series is considered successful (Let's Eat 2), 3 percent is a certified hit and anything beyond 5 percent is a smash hit. But once a peak rating crosses 10 percent, you officially know the drama's leaked over into Korean popular culture/discussion (the previous Answer Me editions/Misaeng)

And yeah, Answer Me 1997 was a weekday drama for tvN (Tuesdays). They created the Friday-Saturday slot for 1994, but no tvN weekday drama has ever performed as well as 1997 since.

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Well, Bubblegum has received not just "largely favorable reviews", it was praised as masterpiece, outstanding drama, the best drama of the year by almost every single viewer. I have never seen 98% positive (and even much more) comments from knetizens...maybe only for "Reply 88" haha. But the ratings was quite low for tvN, yet moderate for 11pm timeslot. And to be honest, that's what was real. Only 1,3% of people was able to get into the indie wise mode of this drama. But that 1,3% will remember it as masterpiece, which is not bad at all. Still, I regret that dramaland is not ready for real life stories without exaggerated makjang or revenge

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Agreed. I was surprised with Bubblegum. I will be honest to say that I thought I wanted "drama" within a show, but real life is everyday and Bubblegum proved me wrong. It was a refreshing show to watch and I enjoyed it. :)

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my 2 cents worth thoughts:
don't get overly upset with ratings... during my feverish journey with Healer i realised, when we international fans loved a certain drama to my core, the actual native locals may be appreciate that drama. So Healer was so-so rating thru-out, and we international fans kept mourning Korean tastes are diff from us. but i know one thing, sometimes unfavorable rating or reviews does affect the way the filming got more shabby filming towards the last few chapters, like they wrapping up and give a regretting ends, leaving lots of questions unanswered.
lots of people does mourn IRY during that period too...
yet, we do not go slamming any higher rating show to say that high rating shows means shallow makjang without substances or depths or strengths.
so, just twit to the actors /actress, or write at recap sites, like this DB, or soompi, to show your loves, somehow they will noticed. i remember Healer's ahjummah asked her husband to translated what was written in English sites (like DB), and was amazed by the overloading fan-crazes for them, think they are gratified by our love.
(i was following Bubblegum all the way, but their ep 15-16 was a let-down. but HA and RH are awesome.)

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I love this new thing you guys are trying out. Even though ratings for me dont make a difference, its good to know how some of our favourite and not-so-favourite shows are doing in the country itself as the reaction of knetizens is always the opposite of what WE international fans think. Whatever! The bottomline is that I love this and we will all keep supporting you guys no matter what! Fighting!

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Yes!!!!!! Love this new feature. Thanks so much :)

My favourites are definitely Oh My Venus & Reply 1988.
I only started watching Reply 1988 two days ago and have already caught up, and now I waiting for ep 14 to be subbed. I just love it sooo much. 16% on cable for ep 14? Way to go!!!
Watching Glamorous Temptation as a guilty pleasure, but it's quite good.
Not into weekend dramas coz they're so long and I got commitment issues ;) but they always get the most ratings.

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Glamorous Temptation is indeed a guilty pleasure. I only watch it because of Choi Kang Hee and Joo Sang Wook... the show took a strange detour, but such is for melodramas lol. I do hope that both leads can do a comedy together because I think they would do a great job. I do miss Joo Sang Wook in comedies... he is hilarious.

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Thanks for posting this. I have a question about ratings as I don't really understand the system and therefore, the comparisons.

Recently, when ratings are mentioned as being high, they're in reference to numbers such as "teenth" percentile. This seems a vast difference to say, the success of Baker Kim Tak Gu, which apparently reached 50.8% in the last episode.

Could someone please explain why there's such a disparity in numbers? Is it to do with specific broadcast stations, or time slots? Or has the landscape increased with more broadcasts, so the pie is sliced thinner?

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Baker King was a 2010 drama; the ratings landscape has shifted tremendously in the past 5 years. I doubt we'll see another 40% or 50% drama again. These days, 20% is the new 40%.

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Thank you for responding.

From your replies above to another query, I'm getting a sense that not all the networks are equal, as it's said that the Mon/Tue slots don't get great ratings but 6FD is in the 13% range.

Could you please expound on that?

KBS, MBC, TVN, SBS and JTBC - Who are the big uns? And what's their standard expected ratings?

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I will try to reply. There is np difference between Mon-Tue 10 pm and Wed-Thurs 10 pm timeslots. All KBS,MBC and SBS dramas are airing it this timeslot. That's why it's quite normal ratinsg for 6FD and it's the highest among 3 dramas airing in Mon-Tue 10 pm timeslot. Major cable channels air in Friday-Saturday 8-9 pm timeslot. tvN has other timeslot which is called "insomniac timeslot" in Korea - Monday-Tuesday at 11 pm. Regarding expected ratings, as Javabeans said, a during past 5 years a lot of changes has hitted kdramaland and now to reach 20% in Monday-Tuesday 10 pm and Wed-Thu 10 pm timeslots is considered as the hit of the year drama. But it's still reachable for Weekend family dramas...which even 3 years ago hitted 50%. Now the biggest achievement for BIG 3 channels is to win 1st place in timeslot. Currently 6FD has 1st place in M-T and Remember in W-T.

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Someone can correct me if I am wrong. The way I understand it KBS, MBC, and SBS are equivalent to (here in the U.S.A.) ABC, CBS, and NBC. Those channels are "free". TVN and JTBC are cable channels, so I think you have pay to view those channels if you live in Korea.

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Ah, thank you Princi_86 and halo120, that helps me get a grasp of the overview.

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Would anyone mind explaining what kind of changes have caused the huge shift in ratings? :) e.g. growing Internet streaming..?

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I would think so, over all TV is not what it was like the last couple of years all over the world. Younger generations don't watch TV any more. There are so many other choices enable you to watch your favorite show on your own time rather than waiting for it in front of TV. I would say this is a huge factor for why the rating is not like what it was before.

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I live in Alaska (USA) so stream everything. That way I can view competing dramas, and also pace my viewing time.

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In comparison the viewership ratings for answer me are positively insane: all the non cable prime time shows-- none of them are pulling 16% except the weekend family dramas (which in my opinion are always illogically popular)

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My theory with weekend dramas is that people work so hard during the week they just vegetate in front of the TV on the weekends. I've only seen a handful of them and many times just skip the middle episodes (20-40) to just get to the ending.

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I tried to start My Daughter Geum Sa Wol just yesterday and skipped most of the bits in the first 4 episodes (I was trying to see where the actual story starts) The acting is very much over the top and makjang (Although the actors and actresses are great) The characters all act unreasonably or maybe they are just kind of stereotypical. I just can't sit through all of the episode without skipping the annoying bits. I have seen a couple of weekend dramas before and they were alrightish..
Might be that the viewers just enjoy the insanity that these dramas are. :D
(Could be that I am not giving up on Geum Sa Wol just yet..)

Oh, and it's always interesting to compare the ratings! Great feature! :)

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This is awesome! I hope this feature is here to stay.

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Finally, a place to check out ratings! Yeah!!!

It's sometimes tedious and frustrating to find ratings online
and sometimes I'll watch dramas that were not on my radar out of curiosity if they are gathering high ratings.
But if I really like a drama, high ratings or not, I stick to it, but this feature is most definitely welcomed for me.

Thank you JB!

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It's so funny that you're doing this, because just last week I was searching for drama ratings and having a hard time finding anything. Thanks Dramabeans! :)

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Ratings are actually better than they were not too long ago. Though when you see something like Reply 1988 doing 16%, you really can't use the excuse that nobody watches TV anymore. They do watch if there is something they find worth watching. Reply's online ratings are also monstrous.

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Love this feature! So cool to see how the dramas lineup

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This is really interesting. I have one suggestion movig forward-include projected number of episodes. I want to know if a show is pulling 9.3% on episode 14 of 16 or 14 of 50. This is especially key for shows I'm not watching or haven't heard of like Please, Mom.

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This is great. I always have this interest on a drama's rating in Korea since what is a hit there may not be the same in the rest of the world. And makes you look at it from a different perspective. Thank you.

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More than the numbers themselves, I'm more interested in your commentary about them.
and you might want to take a look at this for a nicer template: https://www.reddit.com/r/koreanvariety/comments/3xn4si/201512141220_monsun_variety_show_ratings/

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Loads of thanks to you. chi.
actually i was looking for the list of Award shows of the diff Stations>
MBC Award: 30 Dec, 8.55pm.
KBS Award: 31 Dec, 8.30pm.
SBS Award: 31 Dec, ???

now, how am i gonna spilt myself and watch KBS and SBS awards at same timing Streaming LIVE?
well, i subscribed cable for both stations, maybe i will watch on big screen KBS, and Laptop SBS....
Healer not bagging anything big at KBS, my only regrets. the most Healer may get is Best Couple, What-de!

more than the standard ratings, and even DB Beanie Awards... etc(*don't hate me, DB), i wanted my OTP to get their Award from KBS2 or SBS themselves, that is their hightest honor.. Healer has nothing to bag big right? well, they have a shrine at Moru Moru Island blog.. hahahha..

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Is Healer being nominated again this year? I thought is had been nominated last year.

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no idea. am still feverishly finding the nomination list. can only googled 2014 (which means last yr's) i only can find the date. cannot find the nominated name list.
anyone can enlighten?

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http://www.kbs.co.kr/drama/2015award/index.html

(kbs site all in korean, don't understand)
anyway saw the photos, don't seems to have my celestial realm OTP: PMY & JCW.

only can find IRY, Lee Hyun and JiAn.

http://www.hancinema.net/kbs-drama-awards-2015-nominees-89629.html

(can only find these)

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I really wish TvN would get their own award show. I tend to watch and enjoy more TvN dramas. They could make it more fun and casual.

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Sadly because Healer first aired last year and already nominated and won Best Couple, they won't be nominated again this year. Although I'd love Healer to get some more recognition.
Usually KBS and SBS air the Drama Awards at the same time and day. You can watch both, as you say, big screen for KBS and laptop for SBS. Or choose to watch each half, say 1st half you watch KBS, 2nd half for SBS, vice versa.

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http://beatuscorner.com/2015-kbs-drama-awards-best-couple-nominees/

totally crap. JCW and PMY not nominated for BEST COUPLE.

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Ah this is much appreciated!

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As someone who looks up the ratings on wiki sites, I looooovve this new segment! Thanks!

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AM '88 is indeed phenomenal. But I do wonder how many(in percent) korean households have cable.

And is anyone here watching Geum Sa Wol. Is it any good?

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I like it. It's a makjang, but a fun one that keeps adding more surprises after the next.

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I was catching up on some episodes on Geum Sa Wol on weekend. It is fun to watch, and I love Baek Jin Hee. But this is a show that I don't mind if I dont follow every week. Usually I will marathon 4-6 episodes at once. ;)

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I am so sad for Oh my venus. So Ji Sub and Shin Min Ah look so cute and the show is one of the few K drama with a more realistic, modern approach. It may be because of a slow story or mad marketing or may be the competition with historical drama. still very sad.

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+1

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It's still doing OK - the writing is all over the place, but still the main relationship is way better written than for other K-dramas that have been huge hits.

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Nice feature. :) I do like checking out the ratings from time to time.

I guess OMV is doing alright. Hard to compete w/ Six Flying Dragons.

I didn't know that Remember had already taken first place over Master of Trade! o:

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Yes! REMEMBER will soar!
they have 24 ep to do the miracle.
6FD for Mon-Tue, and
REMEMBER for overall.
that's for me!

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I'm also surprised to see Remember already take over the lead when it's only broadcasted for 2 weeks. I guess people in Korea love that kind of story. (I remember Punch's rating which is also pretty good)

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Hi,
I like this new feature. Sometimes I curious about the rating, especially when my favorite drama has tight competition with other drama.
Can you please add rating for running man?

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I Have A Lover IS the best drama I've seen this year (Punch started in 2014 so it doesn't count for this year lol) Each episode is so exciting and the script is top notched and tight. The OTP has amazing chemistry. It's the only drama I livestream. Ratings don't define how good or bad a show is.

If you haven't watched this wonderful drama yet, I highly recommend it. Episodes 1-9 will be hard to watch for sure but this is worth the watch. And there's plenty of discussion on the Soompi forum page.

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I was thinking, if I Have A Lover in weekdays slot, maybe its rating will be good. It might be too heavy for weekend slot.

Agree with u, IHAL is among the best drama i have seen in this year.. And tbh, the best melodrama that i have seen in recent years. ;) The acting and plot is solid.

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IHAL is currently the only K drama that I watch religiously every week. The acting is top notch and the story line great. Can't say the same thing about other other highly rated dramas which somehow, made me lose interest along the way.

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I am agreeable with u Adeline. The joy or maybe I should say the pain & suffering watching it raw, after subbed and waiting for next episode... Only we viewers will know. ;)

This is very rare, for me to give 'A' for all; acting, plot and even BGM. My respect to IHAL's team, for their hard work.

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massive thanks, JB and GF, (am fan of you @ awesome Giants in recap arena, since Healer-saga.)
at least now, lazy people like myself, can don't need to do "some homework" (actually don't know how) and got to see the rating.
still remember Healer-era, i have almost angry till nose-bled to see Healer gotten low ratings.
Hope my 2015 yr end wrapping Thriller "Remember" continue to soar. i will keep coming here, to cheer Remember, for Youngshin's sake.

i also trusted KBS, which churned out awesome unforgetable characters in "King of Baking", "Bridal Mask", "I Remember you", (the ever dazzling Healer), was hoping "Remember" be handled by KBS2.
but anyway, i always find rating high or low, doesn't relfect the quality of the show. as always, my fav show never in the highest rating of the week.

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Thanks for this feature guys!

It is something I have been interested in knowing, since I feel that sometimes what I feel is a great drama in its execution/writing/acting is not perceived as warmly or as well in Korea. (E.g. Healer)

However, I am loving Answer me 1988!!!! Finally, ratings that I can agree on haha.

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I Have a Lover is my favorite for 2015 and in my top 5 best dramas of all time (assuming it stays amazing. Over 30 episodes and it's still very good). The amount of discussion and comments it gets on soompi, viki, and other sites says a lot about how good it is IMO.

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Love the new feature Javabeans. I follow the ratings daily but it is good to see how each show fares compared to shows aired the same week on different days.

I don't begrudge the ratings Answer Me gets but I have a concern. If the ratings keep increasing as the main romance gets more frustrating the writer will get the wrong message. Frankly, I was wishing the ratings would drop a bit this week. After seeing this week's ratings I completely gave up on that romance and decided to enjoy the rest of the show. Sigh. It's still such a waste.

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Woooa 16% for Answer Me episode,that's beyond amazing,at this pace they will be at 20 or even more till last episode,it's crazy!!!and so happy seeing Remember—Son’s War getting that huge increase in ratings and dominating now after the second week the time slot

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Yes! I look up ratings all the time!! This is awesome

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I appreciate this; just like everything else on this site. Thank you!

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16% .................................... Wow.

I wonder what it is about Reply 1988 that makes it so special. It seems like flashback pleasure, catching the mundane, events and characters that can be universally understood. I like watching it, but only because I can skip certain scenes. I wouldn't particularly say it's a well made drama. Perhaps stations will take note of this and have some dramas following the same vein.

The reason I liked Bubblegum so much too was that it captured the essence of the daily and normal, even if there were chaebols and Alzheimers running around. But then again, that didn't reach 1% so.

I feel like this is interesting, but it seems like it'd just turn into a weekly general drama discussion post - much like the Open Thread.

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Also, would it be silly to add in some of the bigger variety programs into this as well?

E.g. I had continuously thought Witch Hunt was doing badly in the ratings but one of you guys mentioned here only a while ago that it's still widely viewed, and then bam last episode this week and I hadn't even known.

It would be interesting to discuss the rise and fall of them as well. If it's not in the major area of concern though, no problem.

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To be honest, I never get how this reply's series are so popular In Korea as well as internationally. I watched it before, but like you i always skip certain scenes. I guess it is because of different taste. ;)

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This is awesome guys. I've always navigated through Asianwiki or KoreanDrama.org to see the rating, not that i care but still. It's really cool that you put it each week.

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A big thanks for this new feature, javabeans! I'm practically like the networks who live and die by ratings. I wiki all my crack dramas the day they air for their ratings. I feel such jubilation when they perform well and such disappointment when they don't. Even though ratings have no bearing on the quality of a show, it is the validation from Korean viewers that make ratings so important. Ratings lead to popularity for the actors (i.e., lead roles, CFs, movies) and sponsorships for the drama (i.e., PPL), which all leads to money.

I am either so happy for the cast and crew or feel so sorry for them. I can't wait until Reply 1988 hits 18%; jumped for joy when Remember overtook the #1 spot; cursed the baseball preemption for sabotaging She Was Pretty's ratings; cheered when School 2015 became the talk of the town; wept for I Remember You's dismal ratings.

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Loving this new feature! It will be a great help rather than searching each individual drama's ratings separately. Dramabeans is truly the one stop shop for kdrama fans, thank you so much!

Also my mind is still reeling with AM1988's ep 14 ratings... 16%?! SERIOUSLY?! *insert infinite amount of clapping emojis* this is phenomenal! this drama deserves all the love <3

Is it correct to assume that AM1988 set a tvN record for highest rating ever (so far) with 16%? I can't remember any drama getting a higher rating on tvN.

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yep, that 16 percent is another all-time record for cable (previously held by Answer Me 1994, and before it, Answer Me 1997)

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I think this is a cool feature! I like to know if the ones I'm really into (Oh My Venus ~ squee!) are the same ones as what other people like. I would like a reminder about long a show is running for (like if it's the seventh episode of a sixteen episode show or the forty-ninth of a fifty episode show.

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I usually search different websites to find the viewership ratings. Sometimes the ratings are not readily available. Please continue publishing this table that summarizes all the ratings for various shows. It is very helpful and I like seeing all the shows' ratings at one glance.

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Against this backdrop of networks and ratings, where does something like Splish Splash Love or whatever fit in, as a two parter? Why do they have these short mini series?

Side note: just saw the second episode and it is really cute. The actor who plays the King can truly rock one of those Joseon hats - I never thought I'd ever think one of those is sexy till now. And Kim Seul-Gi is adorable -she actually looks like a school kid in uniform, which also made it funnier when he said, oh well, at your age you'd already have three kids in Joseon time.

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Love the new feature. Sometimes I am curious who is leading.

I was curious if sweet savage family would keep she was pretty's rating. I guess it does change given the show.

Reply 1988's ratings are phenomenal. Although nothing can replace 1997 in my heart. I wonder if that aired today if the ratings would be the same. But like everyone said, the drama ratings landscape has changed a lot these past few years where 50% is rare, even 20% is rare! So I can't compare the upward trends of cable ratings and the downward trend of main networks.

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Answer Me 1997 was the game-changer for cable, 1994 and 1988's ratings were always going to be higher because they built on the reputation that 1997 established and that (plus the extra time and husband-hunt formula) is what's fuelling their monster ratings now.

But yeah, I wonder how it would be if 1997 was starting the franchise in 2015 and not 2012.

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Yes! Please continue. This is great and much appreciated. I look up ratings all the time!! This is awesome to have it with just one click of the button!

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Thank you for this feature! It's a bit difficult to find the ratings that are reliable.. and of course, it's gratifying to see my favorite dramas doing well in the country where it's made and whose viewership counts more haha..

I love AM 1988's popularity and I'm very happy for the cast/crew for creating such a heartwarming show. I would honestly make my mother watch it if it was dubbed... The only drama whose ratings made me a little sad was I Remember You. I really enjoyed that drama but it didn't really do well..

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I am a bit curious to know how many total subscribers does TvN have and how that relates to the total population. It's hard to explain.. I want to know what percentage would TvN have if every single one of their subscribers is watching the same show. 30%? lower? If it's 30% that means that 30% of Korea has cable. I think TvN should make those figures available.

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Omg. Geum Sa-wol really?

I Have A Lover is truly addicting. To be really honest, the drama is so good. Now I am curious about Geum Sa-wol -- ratings that high means somethin'

[Only King of Dramas (SBS) is still better than Horse Doctor (MBC) when it was aired]

[Though Horse Doctor's Episodes 1-21 was pretty solid and outstanding. Slacked off half-way, but I still finished it.]

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I w0uld say, Geum Sa Wol's high ratings because Koreans love it. This is Koreans' cup of tea. But GSW is not bad, I am watching it too, but it is not as addictive as IHAL ;)

For me, I Have A Lover is better, but for weekend slot, I guess ppl will prefer Guem Sa Wol and All About My Mom.

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I love this new feature. Now I don't have to go search other sites for ratings , just search on dramabeans. So please do continue with this.

16%. ????? ? wow!!! That's really good. It deserves it. I'm so happy.

Earlier I used to watch dramas based on their ratings. If it had low ratings I would be hesitant to watch it. But after watching marriage not dating and healer Im now open to any drama irrespective of their success in ratings.

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Dito!?

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Oh my, you could've missed on the great SASSY!

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Sassy Go Go's lack of ratings hurts me on a personal level because it means the cast and writer will never be able to get the recognition they deserve for the stellar job they did.

But it was practically doomed from the start since KBS made it their redheaded stepchild and chose to air it during Korean exam season (exactly the time when its target audience won't be able to watch it) and gave it virtually no prep time or publicity. Compare that to the full blitz School 2015 got.....

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My plea has been answered! I was not one to care for ratings, but for some reason I've keeping tabs on the ratings for Oh My Venus.

Thank you for making the ratings an addition to the DB blog.

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Also if you guys are on reddit, there's this one guy who does this and posts analysis about them regarding KOREAN VARIETY shows which are pretty in-depth on /r/koreanvariety! Basically the same format :)

Love this feature!

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I don't think the ratings are necessary, because unlike in Hollywood Dramas will not be canceled. They didn't even cancel Bel Ami aka Pretty Boy.

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Is there any logic behind the way you've listed the dramas on a particular day? Why is Oh My Venus first, Dazzling Temptation second?

I'd either sort alphabetically (which could be either by Korean or English title) or by ratings (highest to lowest rating on a day), depending on whether you want to facilitate comparison of a drama's rating over two days or whether you want to emphasise positions in the ratings table...

You could also add a symbol to indicate whether a particular drama has gone up or down in ratings from the previous week.

Might also interesting to include hour of drama airing so who the direct competitors are.

Sorry, this is me in proofreading/copyediting mode...

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Yeah, my suggestion would be to post the dramas in order of ratings, so we know which one has the highest/lowest rating, etc.

Second one, you could also show the timeslot.

I would also love to read DB's in-depth analysis about why this drama gains favourable/unfavourable ratings. Things like that.

Anyway thanks for the effort you put into this, JB!

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The way they have it so far, JB's listing them by station. It's always KBS first, MBC second, and SBS last, with tvN thrown in on the days that they're broadcasting.

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Yes, I saw that. I'm just throwing the question out there whether that's the most effective way of sorting (i.e. other than the public TV vs. cable distinction, does anyone care which station – rather than drama – came first? And if that's the most important distinction, perhaps it should be listed in the left-most column.).

Whichever way you sort, I can see academics appreciating this new DB feature in the future...

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That moment when AM1988 beats a primetime broadcast show... Although it is a F/S show. I haven't followed this series' ratings since 1997 and it is surprising how far it's come for cable, due to more recognition. The show's pretty good too despite getting so much hype now.

I do like having these discussions once in a while.

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1997 was already scoring higher ratings than some public broadcast dramas airing at the time.

But 1988 has gone one up by having ratings even higher than the LEADING shows on weekday public broadcast/comparable ratings to weekend dramas like Producer.

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What Na PD touches turns gold, AM 1988 is a monster hit. Deservedly so if I may add. It got me thinking that if the franchise was aired on a regular channel, it would possibly get up to 50% viewership. Just like in ~the old days~.

Glad to see Son's War's ratings rising!

Thanks JB.

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