Cable network jTBC ended its run of the Fri-Sat thriller police drama Sketch this weekend, averaging ratings in the 2.5% range which qualifies as a solid success for the cast and crew. Lately tvN and even jTBC have seen ratings upwards of 5-6% that it’s easy to forget these are paid cable networks so ratings are lower plus the some big three prime time dramas are getting 2-4% ratings now. I’m thrilled for Rain and Lee Dong Gun to have another hit under their belt, and together to boot as a nice reunion present for this bromance from a decade ago in Sang Doo, Let’s Go to School. I’ve been banking Sketch for a full marathon but have heard nothing but praise for the drama. It’s also confirmation that Lee Sun Bin is ready for the limelight, another one to add to the list of talented and pretty current gen leading ladies.
Sounds like rating success is only a matter of perception and marketing. Sketch is being marketed as a success with less than 2.5% average yet Criminal Minds and Bride of Habaek aren’t, when the last two mentioned dramas have relatively much higher rating.
Hmmm.I wouldnt call CM and BOTWG duds but they really werent successes either.Both of them were heavily promoted and hyped and especially CM had star cast and expensive production so yeah both drama’s ratings were mediocre.
As for this one too, I wouldnt call it a “solid success” either.It just did ok.I sense a bias here in the reporting because sis koala likes the guys.Cable channel have smaller audience indeed but “Misty” and “Pretty Noona” aired in the same time slot as this one on the same channel and manage to bring in 5%-6% average audience.It had no drama competition in its slot from other stations either.Because its police drama, I would consider 3%-4% average a success.Or maybe if it aired on OCN or TV Chosun which have even smaller audience than TVN and jtbc then 2.5% is a success.Like “Life on Mars”.
But they are just numbers.Ratings are a tricky thing and I think they really need to revisit how they evaluate drama success.Its not reliable the way they do it.As for the actors, Rain overall got good reviews from the little I made out of Naver or maybe it was his fans.I liked Sun Bin’s acting better in Criminal Minds than here.She was a bit awkward and stiff in this drama and her tone was off.But I like her and its her first lead role.So I hope she can work on her weak parts and improve in her next production.Lee Dong Gun is just good at these villain roles but his character was well fleshed out in Seven Day Queen than this drama.
BOWTG & Criminal Minds were not mediocre dramas. I can’t compare CM with WWSK as they’re totally different genre but comparing with BOWTG which has much better production value than WWSK. Though WWSk has PMY who’s doing amazingly in the drama. For a live-shoot & in a that particular genre, CM came out well but should have been better if it was pre-produced.
Just FYI, if you look at classification of channels JTBC & TV Chosun are in same category which attracts broader market & TvN MBC1(another cable channel) are on a different with more narrow market. But despite that TvN is generating better rating in most of their dramas recently.
@mistyeyes.I cant quite follow the point you are trying to make in both replies.But anyway about BOTWG and CM.I was only refering to the ratings(as in the viewership stats) of those dramas not the content of dramas themselves.I believe that was what @lovelyz was talking about.
If we had to analyse the script, acting, and directing of both dramas.That would spark a whole new discussion am not too keen to engage in, especially in a post that is unrelated to this.
As for the cable channel thing, I will take your word for it since am not too knowlegeable about that.I only talked about them again just to add to the ratings talk.My basis for my point was simply looking at the current top 20 drama ratings of all time for cable dramas as well as buzz online..That is what leads me to conclude that as far as drama is concerned TvN and JtBC has a much higher viewer audience than OCN and TV Chosun.Thats all I was saying.
Sketch was a wonderful drama with many twists and turns. I hope that these replies come from persons who watched, but it doesn’t seem so. Rain was much better in this role, LDG was excellent as the antagonist and played as if he were a walking dead man because the joy had been sucked out of his life. LSB and her autistic-like sketching segments continue to haunt me. The bad guys were really bad and some “good guys” did a turn around. I think the real judgment of a drama’s success is if you enjoy it, it makes you think, and you you get involved in the plot. I think it’s perfect for binge watching so enjoy and let me know your opinion afterwards.
Sketch …one of the best dramas I have watched in last 5 years… good cast! I agree if you have not watched…do so.
The ratings fell from the first episode, they did not increase. The finale had one of the lowest ratings of the entire airing. I would think that meant that it is not the successful show they are touting it as.
I did not like Sketch. It’s storyline did not make sense and the sketches were used more as plot crutches than clever clues. It was a DNF after episode 4. I wasn’t the only one to stop though since the ratings continued to decrease as it aired.
I am watching episode 13 at the moment and I have to say koala is right. Wondering the people who are saying here that sketch isn’t a good show, have actually been following it up to the end or not. Cause it really has a tight storyline full of twist and turn and the story has been quite consistent so far. I wouldn’t just write it off because of the ratings. Although like koala said, some mainstream channels these days have 2.5- 4% ratings, so compared to that, 2.5 doesn’t sound bad. And disregarding the rating, the drama itself is quite good. Don’t know how it is fairing in Korea though. Hope someone can give us the update here lol.