Episode 4 of The King: Eternal Monarch Stays in Single Digit Ratings of 8.5% and 9.7% as Lee Min Ho Travels Freely Between Worlds

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• Well I am loving this drama. I like the chemistry too. Waiting for next week.
  Heirs was the worst drama i ever seen. There's was no story,nothing happened ever.

  • The Ratings of the drama is quite good tho. I know Koala rushed on this but it's generally a fallacy article report. It this drama is airing on Netflix South Korea and SBS the same day. There subscriber numbers in South korea is numerous. It makes a significiant diference.

    It Drama is even in worse disadvantage than a CABLE Tv and can't be judged on part of it's ratings because it's airing on 2 platforms in the same day. No other dramas have done this before maybe except Mr.Sunshine. It is something new that needs to be broought to attentiion

    • This pretty much. Not many people watch Television nowadays except the elderly. Being on 2 platforms on the same day takes the wind out of it. Can't definitely not be judged on ratings

    • I think KES wanted to double time both with SBS and Netflix. Seems like she is the only one willing to take on the momentous task of airing concurrently on 2 platforms in the same day but others will follow suit.

      For Cable Tv the ratings is considered half as success. Example if Cable TV have 5% is considered 10% but for concurrently airing tv-shows it should be even more signficiant imho. 5% should count for something like 15%. Ratio should be 1:3 not 1:2 like cable TV

      This makes things more sense and fair for concurrently airing tv-shows in the future they will get a new fair criteria judge guidelines like CABLE TV's do.

    • @Marissa

      Yes. New criteria will be formed for these concurrently airing on the same day otherwise it would be silly using an outdated formula

    • Not a fan of this drama but What they could probably do is add it's netflix numbers on top of it's Nielsen numbers but that would not be practical. Netflix dosen't release numbers. But yeah I reckon they can't be judged on the Tv ratings as that would be out of question due to concurrently airing. I don't understand why some Tv-shows would want to take the chellenge of airing concurrently dose KES thinks she is to powerful and can do it on 2 platforms in the same country?

    • CLOY, Itaewon Class, Hospital Playlist were also airing on both platforms and are cable dramas but still able to bring in 2 digits rating so to say that it’s a disadvantage for TKEM is not so true tbh. The real disadvantage for TKEM is airing close to TWOTM timeslot and it’s kind of a makjang drama that also on its climax so of course viewers will choose to drop one and choose the other

    • @ Pete

      Netflix is streaming The King: Eternal Monarch ONLY outside of Korea, it's region blocked for the South Korean Netflix subscriber they can only watch on SBS. That's why both allowed it because it cannot cannibalize their own ratings and audience.

      Ergo for The King there is no taking away viewers in South Korea so the domestic ratings are accurate as to the South Korean viewers who are interested as there is no alternative source to watch other than SBS.

      https://media.netflix.com/en/press-releases/highly-anticipated-korean-drama-the-king-eternal-monarch-to-premiere-on-netflix-in-april

    • That article is outdated Koala it's airing on the same day 1 hour apart

      https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/the-king-eternal-monarch-season-1-netflix-k-drama-plot-cast-episode-release-schedule/

    • It’s still proof that it isn’t aired simultaneously. One hour is one hour. It didn’t affect dramas ic, cloy, or when camilla blooms ratings.

    • 1 Hour has great effect and it's basically concurrently airing on 2 platforms. 22:00 and 23:00. It dose have a massive effect. Considering the large subscriber base in that country

    • Crashing landing, itaeon class, and when Camilla blooms had high ratings on network and was also shown on Netflix on same day as well.

      Why don’t we just focus on quality of drama instead of ratings? LOL

    • shows such as itaewon class, crash landing, and when Camilla bloom also was on Netflix on same day and still maintain high ratings.

      Why not focus on what matters, the quality of show lol

    • @Laura the only Tv-show you mentioned is Itaewon class that aired on the same day with 4 hours difference the rest air 1 day later. Not much effect except IC. But airing 22-23 is basically concurrently airing and makes huge impact

    • Maybe? You might be right? Idk I honestly don’t know korean habits on watching dramas haha

    • You guys seem to have missed Okoala's point about Netflix being region blocked for SK viewers for TKEM during its run. That means although the drama is broadcast on two platforms the SK viewers can only watch on ONE. The broadcast station makes money from advertisements during the run of a drama so it doesn't make sense that it would allow a pay-to-view channel to eat up its viewership. If only someone here is from Korea to confirm if they cannot watch TKEM on Netflix. That would help clear up lots of fruitless debate on ratings here.

    • @Hye Mi.. Nothing is blocked it officially airs 1 hour apart. Alcois is telling the truth. 23.00 It's on Netflix in Sk and 22.00 on SBS channel. One hour is nothing and won't stop it's viewership eating itself this was expected imo to happen otherwise they wouldn't have experimented this

    • I am getting confused by the Netflix platform. Isn’t it exactly the same format as vagabond - SBS and Netflix. Some commented it was a flop, while others said it was doing well in Netflix. Whatever it is, VB did keep a low double-digit rating everytime it was aired (except once at 9.3). I am not comparing, what I meant is situation is exactly the same, Fri/Sat, Netflix with SBS ...is isn’t something new and only happened to the king.

    • Why suddenly this discussion when Vagabond has exactly the same format (same time slot, SBS and Netflix, big budget) and it was deemed a flop even though it has a stable double digit rating rather than declining. This is not something new.

    • Lols, but 1 hour later.. but in one hour later, wasnt it the airing time for the world of the married???? I wonder if koreans love to do the multitasking.. lol

      And, the king didnt even get trending, when we talk about popularity, no matter what platforms you use, it will get trending. But the king only got trending on ep 1.

      Kes was popular as rating queen writer.. rating means a lot for tv and production team. Im currently watching born again, with low rating but very good story, plot, chemistry and acting. For those who love, rating isnt everything, but for the crew, rating means anything. This drama far from expectation. No matter how much you defend it. Still not a popular show. Why wait on netflix when you can watch on tv and you live in korea and you dont need sub etc. People's logic duh.

    • @alCois, the article you posted just states it will be available on Netflix same day as Korean broadcast, it doesn’t say anywhere that it’s available to SK audience. Ratings is everything is Korea, so I don’t see why SBS will want to split the local viewership with Netflix. Plus the drama is getting only negative response from Korean audience, hence the low ratings.

    • @ *** exactly the one hour thingy was not mentioned. And as far as I know only the international audience gets to see the subbed version after one hour. So don't know when it is aired originally in SK eventhough it is released on the same date..
      @ yui
      Yup let us assume it airs at 23:00.. So does it mean people will skip TKEM in SBS at 22:00 due to bad quality and wait for one hour to watch it on Netflix only to be clashed with A couple's World.??.Now that is a joke. The interested people would definitely watch it on SBS cause who would want to miss A couple's world.

    • @Yui @May @***

      Trying to make an argument against this is counterproductive because as *** said he obviously thinks 1 hour dosent make huge difference but his extremely wrong. The traffic for the king on Netflix Sk is significiant as expected. Alot youths catch it there. As for trending it was trending #2 worldwide on twitter and on Weibo in china. It's not exactly a small TV show both in viewership + trending both locally and Internationally. SBS had no other option than to share the viewership with Netflix in the local market they knew this on before hand. All other arguments is just running circles

    • True,probably since this is a weekends drama knetz prefer to watch it in paid tv which is netflix,why would I rush home to catch up, it will be available in netflix 30 mins later after the airing in free tv so it's more convinient, this drama is currently dominating netflix in many countries and also in sk netflix itself, knowing netflix has a huge audience's ww, the % in free tv is just a bonus, right now TKEM is no 19 spot in netflix around the world for 2020,ang its top 9 ww netflix for May 2020,this happen when a drama premiered in both paid and free tv
      Above all this drama is very interesting mindful drama,why many are saying no chemistry for the leads, no conection of the story, lact of acting and may more complain, well don't blame the drama, blame your poor brain, since this is a very intectual drama you need to focus in every detail in order for you to understand well, don't just simply throw a negative comment

  • They are not gonna change the system in place just because it is a Lee Min Ho drama.....fact remains that a show on cable channel is getting 22.9% which a had zero promotions, then there is a drama with 32 billion won in investment and was hyped to the sky with extensive promotions and it is loosing viewers while another show with veteran actors just made a debut with favorable reviews that is Yoo Ji Tae and Lee Bo Young's new show. What would you guys blame it on if it keeps bleeding more viewers and a new saturday sunday show gets better numbers. It won't loose money but is would still not be considered hit if it looses more viewers each week or keeps getting single digit.

    • So true. It's no use engaging with LMH fans as they will do anything to justify the single digit ratings lol. The fact remains that TKEM was the most anticipated drama this year with the highest budget but is underperforming. It's also a fact that the last 3 KES dramas brought in great ratings and became THE biggest drama of their respective years. That is definitely not happening this time with CLOY, IC, and TWOM performing much better. Heck, even Hospital Playlist is on an upward trend with its OSTs charting high on music charts.

    • It has nothing to do with LMH fans.It's just basic reality. You just can't come here and expect to get great numbers while airing concurrently if you think otherwise they lack brain cells

    • It's just basic reality being on Television and streaming platform on same day is huge not to consider. Thats my objective opinion

    • You have to be dumb if you think any series should get held on such high pedastal and take it's ratings as criteria in this circumstance. It's an oxymoronic idea. Imagine if Witcher series was airing both on Netflix and TV on same day. Will peasants like you come in here and tell us that it has poor TV numbers so it must be doing poor yada yada but that is not the case here. You need to see the bigger picture here. Any drama that is airing concurrently deserves by default a different rule. Any drama airing on 2 platforms within the same country on the same day

    • I think we have to see this from the bigger picture and not just rush to conclusions here. I reckon some may want to see this drama fail or what not but lets not get irrational with each other folks nor hasty. I agree with basically what Mathchilde said.

      For these airing on streaming platform and TV on the same day needs different perespective and vice versa. I am not a LMH fan so before you all go saying LMH fans? I am not

    • @yus @Augusta okay, by your logic explain this...IC ran one hour later in SK just like LMH's new drama, CLOY ran like 3 hour later at like 3 AM, Mr. Sunshine ran 1 hour later concurrent....so why did it not bleed viewers from concurrent viewing? And Game Of Thrones aired on HBO and all the HBO online platforms at the same time worldwide, it did not loose viewers...if a drama is interesting, people will tune in period. When My Love Bloom, I saw one episode and it has me hooked so much that I keep looking for subs for episode 2. I can bet it is going to eat into the Saturday numbers for TKEM starting next week. If you're worried just one not so well performing drama looks bad for LMH than rest assured it won't hurt his brand.....he has made a career in the industry playing Rich, out of touch Heir/Rich, Cocky King for as long as I can remember...he will be fine....he just needs to take really good care of his face.

    • @Gem

      No CLOY aired 24 hours later not 3. IC was the only one that aired 4 hours later. by that time it was midnight. It was only Mr. Sunshine that aired on that same timeline like the king 2200-2300 so as you can see it is significiant nothing to take lightly. If you continue in this you will only reek of desparation. HBO tv and HBO online platform is basically the same stuff. hahah. but all in all you need to understand when a series can cause harm to it's self and how streaming works when it comes to live airing and streaming platforms

    • Ok so I am wrong about everything, I don't understand a thing about streaming than how did Mr. Sunshine do so well each week in and out, lets apply your logic to all this...and why is TKEM bleeding, explain this @alclois Keep in mind, Mr. Sunshine had a very problematic scandal ridden lead.

  • For God's sake, it has only been airing 4 episodes. Why so harsh?

    • All of this ratings talk is boring, let’s focus on the real problems of the drama. Both sides have merit.

      Quality and storytelling is pitiful and weak. I care about being properly entertained than ratings any day LOL

      I hope ratings are sufficient enough where all parties involved are satisfied, I feel bad when people who worked hard but lose money :(

  • I love this series. It's mysterious and very at edge of yoyr seat drama. Its romantic and passionate. I live how all pieces are coming together. I am eager to see more. Great actors.

    • I love this series. It's mysterious and very at edge of yoyr seat drama. Its romantic and passionate. I love how all pieces are coming together. I am eager to see more. Great actors.

  • I loved The Heirs, hated Boys Over Flowers, don’t even start me, but this The King. I really want to love it but agree 100% with Koala what the heck is it about? I can’t stand the girl, she’s rude, aggressive, snide, uncultured, oppositional and arrogant. So huh? What’s to love? How could audiences possibly connect with her? Why would he? Minho is so disappointing in this. His personality just doesn’t come through at all. And the antagonist is just plain irritating.

    • The girl is a detective, dont expect a weakling, girl in distress. She plays her role perfectly.

    • The girl is a detective, dont expect a weakling, girl in distress. She plays her role perfectly. Minho is a King, he has to act dignified to his subjects...but he shows his boyish charm in his private relationship with people close to him
      I am totally entertained ??❤

    • This is what happens when a mediocre artist is hyped even he/she got shitty skills. LMH has never acted a great/layered character properly (example : BOF/City Hunter)

• I agree Heirs is a bit better. This drama is horrible.

  • Hahaha... Agree @Jennie. Heirs is one of my fav because I can feel LMH liking PSH very much, the way he protects her through body language and expression. He didn't afraid to show it all out. And the story flows better with a lot of screen time for main leads to build up the tension and create momentum.

    • i got hooked in K dramas right after watching the heirs twice loving it and the soundtrack is amazing..

• It’s not the lack of chemistry is the biggest problem but the romance in itself is just so strange and not logical at all. He falls in love with her when he was a kid? He falls in love with an ID picture? He thens falls in love with her when he sees her in person despite her being different from how he originally imagined her to be. I don’t but the idea of falling in love with someone before you ever met them in person and getting to know them personally.

  He approaches her and want her to marry him? Before even getting to know each other? He must be feeling lonely at nighttime or something LOL

  It’s the same for her, she thinks he’s a mental, crazy stalker but allows him to tag along and then follows him to a forest? She barely knows him but starts to miss him? They didn’t have any heart to heart connection before they separated.

  On episode 4, I liked them better when they were separated before they reunited. It made their scenes a tad better together being separated for a bit.

  This romance makes no sense, like Snow White following a stranger prince after waking up LOL
  There’s no build up to the relationship.

  • Exactly my sentiment. The drama and each actor is more enjoyable for me when they are separated, which shouldn't happen but I'll take what I can. The story picks up in this episode which is a good sign. At this point I'm not looking forward to the romance anymore because it's so unbelievable. I'll just stick around to see where the story heads instead.

    • @ hyemi
      I’m kinda hoping now that in every episode, they will be separated for a bit. Individually they have more color but together they become grey and murky brown LOL

      The romance is non sequitur. Yes, it’s better if we just put the romance in the back burner and just focus on the mysteries and sci-fi sub plots haha

  • @Laura, this is what I meant also, but you have explained it better in detail. From the logical point of view, LMH as a kid while seeing the ID pic should be interested in finding out who is his saviour and trying to solve the crime. Moreover it is extremely odd if since small he already liking the woman in the pic because of the age gap :D

    And even if he is longing for her for 20 years and start to liking her, I cannot feel the warmth and longing from his eyes, or in the way he speaks. At the last scene of ep 4 while the two CP staring at each other, i cannot feel anything.. DUH.. And honestly from beginning to almost the end i just skip many scenes, because the stories are not important and jumping from here and there. They should make more scenes between the main leads LOL..

    • @ evi
      Thinking about it gives me goosebumps. I’m shivering. Imagine one day at the dinner table, their curious child ask their parents how their love story begun... awkward for days LOL

      Sometimes when they stare at each other, I have a hard time believing that they are even looking at each other and not looking through each other as if they are transparent like ghosts. It’s forced romance shoved down our throats without any receipts of putting any effort to make it happen in the first place. He skipped the courtship and went straight to asking her hand in marriage lollll

  • so true. it was my exact thought . i dont want to b criticizing but park shin hye and lee min ho had much better chemistry . this show is not able to satisfy any of the genre , i dont feel any romantic bubbles watching main lead , except watching police friend

    • @ sd
      I agree he has better chemistry with people in heirs.
      I only have bubbles of disbelief through out any
      so -call romantic scenes LOL

    • Yo. Even i like Kyung Nam more than LMH in this. At least Shin jae (the cop friend) is the most sane person around. Plus Woo Do Hwan also doing good playing the double role

    • Here are the fans of psh, it's 2020 move on folks???

  • I agree with Laura and Koala. I KIV the Ep 3 coz it was so DULL....

    • Definitely, I hope next week is better. I play with my fidget spinner and message people on my phone while watching loll

  • Sad... started Kdrama for LMH ... from
    BOF to LDBS saw a versatile actor with a great sense of comic timing, style, & real involvement with the plot that took the story forward with or without a great script.... . The dramas also had chemistry between the lead stars, top class sub plots and just the sense that everyone knew what was going on...Really looked forward to The King... but it has none of the above ....

  • LMAO.. your narration thou..you guys are not being fair..this is only episode 4

• All KES drama has always been have the same formula or there is always a pattern. Its always been like this, and yet, Korean and International eat up all of her stuff. So I don't want to dig deeper into technical aspect of why this time it's not working for them. Hell, The Heirs is not that good either for me, yet, It's get good rating and has international success..

  I'm more keen towards the unexpected hits "The World Of The Married" become the main factor. It's not only In South Korea, But also In International. Heck I've been surprise It's consider a hit in my Country, and My friend who are not regular Korean drama Watcher follow this drama and addicted to it.

  • @Laura
    Exactly my thought. There's absolutely zero foundation about this 'love' b/w them. The show may be a little bit tolerable as long as they are not on the same screen. This is obviously a glaring mismatch that the casting people completely ignored.

    At least with Heirs, you can actually feel LMH liking PSH's character very much. Here it's like a wooden ornament. Totally dead, no emotion, bland. Plus, the female lead was so overacting that she keeps distracting me from trying to understand the story which is already so muddy. Execution, delivery and direction are all so bland yet convoluted.

    At this point the actress playing prime minister is stealing the thunder from all of those so very easily.

    • @mindy

      I agree, a screen test and chemistry test should had taken place instead of just casting big names and hoping it all works out LOL

    • What a waste of a potential... when I watched the first episode I just knew that the drama was doomed .... I wanted to really like it so much but I can’t ...... I just can’t seem to get into the drama at all ... I’m so sad as I was really looking forward to the drama before it aired... what a disappointment

    • @ladykays
      I feel you. I’ve been waiting for lmh comeback drama for three years. I did not wait three years for this drivel. I really despised the feeling of forcing myself of Liking something, I should be liking something naturally :(

    • The lead actress and LMH do not match at all. These two should never share screen time with other as leads. The actress playing the PM is a better match for LMH.

  • On the international fan base, TKEM was in the top 10 trending on Netflix India for the first week, now it's gone. CLOY and IC did well here too.

    Goblin is one of my all time faves. Sure the romance wasn't that believable. But the second leads had one of the most unconventional romances. It went from funny to tragic in a sec and I liked the bromance too. Plus Goblin as such was an interesting character. I find nothing interesting about the King though. Plus the whole Einstein monologue was just weird.

    I am dropping TKEM after early Ep4. Will see if it gets better

  • People now are more interested to a drama like world of the cheating man???? funny tho

• I agree...It was in epi 3,I mean who the hell will give 2 million Won to a stranger who has no identity ,just because he looks rich and handsome ?..A government officer that too a police was acting like an errand boy to a person whose activities are suspicious.TE let a person roam freely who claims to be a king and orders to get people beheaded every now and then . She isn't bothered when he reached her home and stalks regularly. I will be freaked out in such a scenario if a no name jerk claims to know me. She is a police after all so she must have dealt with many suspicious people and LG could have easily been a fugitive but girl got smitten by his intelligence (looks?).LG behaves as if he knows everything about past and present and easily deduced that his uncle is alive and using the portal due to the flute. Ok I get that you are smart but care to explain how u reached to that conclusion because viewers are not inside your head to decipher the clues. Seriously I don't get what is the intention or motivation behind their actions. It is like they are keeping it to themselves and audiences are fended off to be at their own mercy. It really feels disconnected..Actors are supposed to bridge that gap by showing appropriate emotions so that we are certain of what is going on in their heads. And a person who never had a gf in his life suddenly finds TE beautiful,fell in love and wants to marry?..
  I want to like it too but so many questions pop up in my mind that I just can't concentrate on the drama carefully as I really want to catch all the hints thrown to get a thrilling experience .

  • Having two condescending, stubborn characters communicating to each other but not really listening to each other is a recipe for disaster. They may both have high IQ but their EQ are alarmingly low.

    • is the number one fan of the king on hiatus? hahhaha. i'm missing her on this site. lolzzzZz. i miss her talking about CFs, real estate, profit, wahahahahahha

      probably, i see her coming back once rating of this drana hits 20%.

  • Expectations for the king External Monarch are high because of its star studded Cast, famous writer and PD not to mention that this's one of the most anticipated projects of 2020 and the comeback drama of Lee Min Ho. So some are being dissapointed because of the unmet expectations. I myself was expecting that this drama would be as Good as CLOY and IC. Hope the drama improves in the succeeding eps.

    • Hi i agree w u i hv high expectations of this drama as high as cloy but cloy itself sets the standard v high w good story flow and the ending is something you are curious to find out .. alot of KES dramas have weird flow, slow paced (goblin) and not knowing what to look forward to(DOTS, the heirs). Well at least the heirs was funny.

      Alot of people have high expectations of this drama bcs of the star studded cast, LMH comeback and of cos KES. Bt sadly airing same time as world of marriage which all the ajumas loved..

    • Pig you write so much like Ady. Is this your comeback? RIP

    • @SMH, I don’t think it’s her. Peppapig didn't mention CFs and not enough spelling errors.

    • Yeah, adyjunjihyun seems to have disappeared. She's normally the first to comment on every single article about LMH and defend him to the death citing CFs, Netflix ratings of TKEM in Peru, India, Mexico. Lol. Her obsession with real estate too. Maybe she has to go back to work after boasting about not having to work as she's a rich landlady.

    • @Sam HELP I can't stop laughing at your comment lol it's so accurate

• If heirs is better, what is this drama?!
  Thankfully I felt episode 4 is better, finally I find some interesting points on the story and the directing /editing seems to be much much more on point. Ep3 seemed to be directed or edited by someone drunk.
  The problems are still there - the story is confusing. Pls don’t get the viewers wrong, One can follow a difficult story but the story telling has to be there. This is just placing scenes here and there with no justification which is just plain lazy or arrogance. The plot has promise but it needs to be told properly. I believe there is potential but someone needs to redo the style and how the story is revealed.
  I’m divided about the cast- KGE is not earning any brownie points - I think she overacts too much. But it is better in ep4 thankfully. LMH looks like he is just reciting his lines - where the soul bro? You need to immerse and interpret the character not just read lines and look pretty/ where’s the body language, where’s the nuances? Omg he is handsome but he used to be better, he could take my breathe away (even if momentarily) not just by being pretty but by how he could make the character work and relatable. You need this. Otherwise no chemistry in a KES drama is like poison because her lines are so cheesy you need OTP chemistry and first Leads charms to pull them off! Period. I want to like this so I’m hoping they get their act together.

  • LMH takes my breath away in BOF ,this is how I got to know of his existence in the first place.He was rugged, passionate and sexy in BOF but his face has totally changed.He has been made to look boyish and cute instead, baby faced with very little expression in this new drama The King.
    The story line is totally confusing thus far and have had to watch the first 4 episodes twice over.
    The fact that it’s only twice a week doesn’t help either ,it loses its effectiveness along the way.
    Having said that I will watch anything LMH is in because he’s very talented and very beautiful, again most especially as Gu Jun Pyo .

• Heirs is one of cringest K-dramas... but the cast have better chemistry than TKEM.

• I read it in a forum that The King is one of the few dramas which airs simultaneously in SK Netflix as well as SBS. So younger generation stick to Netflix for HD whereas the older ones tune in to SBS. That's why the ratings are so low. If this is true then I think it explains the unsatisfactory ratings to some extent..
  I know CLOY and IC were also in Netflix and had high tv ratings as well.For international viewers like me the subbed episodes used to come out one hour later after it aired in SK. Thus I don't know whether IC or CLOY were aired simultaneously in SK Netflix...ig need to check it out. Regarding CLOY ,only in Japan and Europe all episodes were released together in Netflix ,once it ended.
  In SK I think IC and CLOY were still airing in Netflix along with tv broadcasts .But I don't know at what time they were uploaded in SK Netflix cause koreans don't need the subbed version ,so why wait for extra one hour.

  • @ May
    during the First episode TKEM, it got double digit ratings. Im sorry, but are you saying that the decreasing viewership rating of this drama is due to being concurrently shown on Netflix? thanks.

    • No I was just stating what I read in a forum and not necessarily be true . I can't confirm whether it is Netflix's fault or not cause IC and CLOY were there too. But at the same time I don't know whether or not these two aired at the same time slot along with the broadcasting channel in SK. Subbed versions usually came out after one hour but koreans don't need subs.

      There is one thing I m sure of. During the premier week TKEM was at no. 2 in SK Netflix whereas Hospital Playlist was at no. 1. On the other hand Hospital Playlist is also garnering good ratings despite having one episode per week. So you judge

    • I am telling you this you can take it from me yes. This drama won't likely going higher 9-12% in it's entire run. Because it's running concurrently

    • @May

      IC and CLOY didn't air the same day on Netflix they were exclusive on CABLE and than entered on Netflix at later days and the same with Vegabond.

      Mr.Sunshine and The King: Eternal Monarch are airing concurrently on Netflix South Korean and SBS. The condition is even worse than a CABLE TV drama. I know some people want to see this drama fall and everything but that is just not the case. All this 9-10% ratings you see it's just a small friction of it's viewers inside SK.

      If you consider the fact that it's concurrently airing the same day and pulling this numbers its positive and great ratings taking everything into consideration

    • Mr. Sunshine did really well locally thats a fact. Even during concurrently airing on 2 platform the same time. TKEM is also doing great in this new format.

      Airing on the same day for any Series is huge disadvantage specifically if you want to grab only the Television ratings and even a marvel movie will lose around 80% culture my ass. People will consume things as fast and easiest as possible they can get

    • I dont think so....
      The script , acting and directing wasnt fun for episode 1 to 3. However Episode 4 picked up and i am begining to see the good in the drama. I hope my expectation is not cut short.
      Anybody saying its because it airs concurently on netflix as SBS hence the reason for the low rating is not being objective at all.

  • @May not really..a 32 billion won project delivering domestic single digit is not a sign of success after double digit premiere.....it won't loose money but next week when Lee Bo Young and Yoo Ji Tae's show takes more viewers away from TKEM because World of Married is untouchable at this point, that would be the final nail in the coffin.

    • Even if TKEM sits around that 9-10% would be success as it's in different category because it's airing concurrently on Netflix and SBS on the same day. TKEM technically has more viewers than the world of married inside Sk because that drama is not airing concurrently on 2 platforms

    • @Matchide Wrong again, TWOM has a huge international following now thanks to word of mouth....I am sorry Lee Min Ho's project is not doing well but don't just drag other shows down to prove a point especially a show that is critically acclaimed right now and will likely sweep every award out there for drama category. Netflix point is also wrong because even Hospital Playlist is on netflix, it trends in 1 and also keeps getting higher and higher domestic rating each week with 12% rating this week. That show will end with 18% range at this rate. Wasn't CLOY and IC also on Netflix?? Wasn't Hyena on Netflix?? A show can be a huge his every platform provided it is a good show.

    • They are not concurrently airing tho like TKEM. None of these previously mentioned dramas like CLOY and IC did not air concurrently on the same time. I dislike Lee Min-ho. It has nothing to do it. Air concurrently on the same day it's entirely a different matter altogether

    • @ Gem
      i agree with you though. TKEM is at 2nd number in the premier week whereas Hospital Playlist is at the top. So let us assume that a huge chunk of people shifted to Netflix from SBS for The King due to similar time slot. Also HP first gets broadcasted on tvn on Thursdays and then later on in Netflix at a different time.Then why the hell was it still in no. 1 position. Did people watch it twice?. First time in tv and later on in Netflix??. I don't think most peope would rewatch recent episodes so soon cause HP is not a type of drama where you have to look back at the episodes scratching ur head to constantly look for clues and one time watch is okay for it. Similarly let us assume people watched CLOY and IC in tvn thats why they had high ratings. But they were at the top in Netflix as well. So once again..Do people watch it twice.??.Yes some people do but very few of them.

    • That is load of bull...they are made available each week at same time according to time zone. Wait you think SK has both netflix stream and SBS on air running at the same time...only SBS has broadcast rights in SK...netflix is for worldwide distribution. Netflix can't run a show in the country of its original release at the same time, it hurts business.

    • Also leave the rest..Just look at the ratings of Mr. Sunshine itself.It was also broadcasted in Netflix at the same time slot as stated by people. MR. Sunshine was a recent drama having aired in 2018. People were using Netflix back then as well and SK being the country with fastest internet,I bet many people watched it in Netflix also. Its cinematography was praised a lot which was even alleviated if viewed in HD.
      Also you can't argue by saying that due to COVID and lockdown more people are turning towards Netflix hence the difference between Mr. SUNSHINE and TKEM. This is definitely not the case in SK and it applies to the outside world only. SK was never in a lockdown and their daily life is going on normally..Over these two years subscribers have surely increased but the ratings disparity shouldn't be that much significant between Mr. Sunshine and TKEM .As we can see the formers ratings are even higher than the later despite it being aired in Cable tv.

    • I think what you people fail to understand is that airing concurrently dosen't mean it was on Netflix. Dropping on the same day thats what mathilde meant. The King was no.1 on sk netflix the second day of it's premier.. Tv-shows like Hospital playlist don't air concurrently on Netflix like TKEM is doing. Completely different subject nor did the other mention shows

    • It would be unwise to expect a western tv-show airing concurrently on Streaming platform like Netflix and TV to have a higher TV ratings than that it should have if it was not on the streaming platform. It dosen't makes sense right?

      Concurrently airing is a different subject. Example if a marvel movie is concurrently airing in the theaters and on Disney+ do you think it would do the same numbers as previously? it would lose around 80% to 85% of it's normal viewership. It's the same for any popular Tv-show and especially for south Korea it has a large subscriber base on netflix. No CLOY, IC, Hopistal playlist and other did not air concurrently except Mr.Sunshine and TKEM

    • @Alan Mr. Sunshine did 8% on debut, rose each week and it finished with 18%...Upward trend in numbers...TKEM is on downward trend and premiered with double digits and now hovering in single digit with strong competition from all sides. Using your own points of concurrent streaming, TKEM is not doing well...And Marvel movies is a stretch for example...even if they did release on streaming sites, people would rush to theaters...its a brand, watching it on IMAX is a phenomenon, you don't just watch it to see who won...its a cultural experience...you are so off point here.

    • Mr. Sunshine was a cable drama and untill TWOM came into picture , it held the highest avg rating of almost 13pc for the entire series . So how was this possible eventhough Netflix aired it concurrently.

    • Mr. Sunshine did really well locally thats a fact. Even during concurrently airing on 2 platform the same time. TKEM is also doing great in this new format.

      Airing on the same day for any series is huge disadvantage on the same market specifically if you want to pinpoint only TV-ratings and Yes even Marvel movies will lose around 80% culture my ass. People will consume things as fast and easiest as possible they can get

  • @slevin CLOY and IC were aired on Netflix exactly one hour after their run on TV, not “days” lol And The King arrives one hour later too lol

    • Last time I chekced both arrived 1 day later and that is what it says on the netflix website as well. That they are released 1 day later on Netflix not same day. So there you have it

    • CLOY one day later......IC on same day.

    • IC aired 03 AM so it's technically next day but to be exact it aired 4 hours after. Not 1 hour later but still good. IC was great drama

    • @alCois, I was waiting for IC and it was up on air exactly one hour later. Not four, five, six. One. Don’t confuse people here. I also saw koreans using Netflix one hour later to watch it. So it was available domestically and internationally at the same time. But they also searched for re-broadcast in the morning on jtbc, on Naver key word almost always trended the next day. Because it was simply a popular show. Maybe Netflix and morning re-broadcast took some portion of their audience, but overall it performed great in late 22:50 hour.

• Honestly, the heirs is better drama. There's a story!!! While this one, well, totally meh.

  Basically not all KES' dramas have the same formula. On air, lovers, dots and mr sunshine were different. Especially on air and mr. Sunshine.

  Guys, i highly recommend you to watch On Air, an old drama but totally worth you time. And Mr. Sunshine, even tho some might hate seeing Mr. Lee.. but the story is really good.

  • Hi Yui

    I may have a very unpopular view, but I thought the acting by Lee Santa and Kim Taeri in Mr. Sunshine was very wooden. Which was why I dropped the drama. The supporting actors in Mr. Sunshine did much better with their material. When I read praise for Kim Taeri’s and LBH’s acting in that drama, I wondered if it was the same one I watched. And I went up to episode 13 before quitting. I guess different strokes for different folks. While I admire what KES was trying to do with her plot, it didn’t resonate with me. I loved YYS tortured acting and BYH’s role, though. Now the problem with the Eternal Monarch, is that most of what propels the drama forward and guides the plot happens off camera. Small wonder the viewer can’t relate. And sometimes they show flashbacks of disjointed scenes which would have been more cohesive if they had just shown those scenes in the first place.Drama is full of crappy editing, awful directing. Imo ep. 4 was better than ep. 3. If KES was going to stick with LMH and KGE, then she should have stuck with the director of DOTS and Goblin. The dude directing and editing The Eternal Monarch isn’t doing her any favors and he is ruining her drama. Smh.

    • Hi, no worries, i respect different opinion. For me, Mr. Lee wasnt at his best but literally not bad. I guess, it was bcuz of his character, but never mind, i dont really like his acting too.
      While for kim taeri, i really liked her performance. That was the first time i saw her acting but totally loved it. Especially comparing to KGE and PSH. But well, i like all this actresses but this is what i thought.

      Agree with you about the director. Goblin was really beautiful. Honestly im not so into fantasy genre, but goblin kept me stay, even tho at the 2 last episode it got boring but well, no perfect drama.

  • Heirs had Kang Haneul, Kim Ji Won, Kim Woo Bin too, Park Hyung Shik.....there were enough good looking and good actors to put a plaster on Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye's lack of acting prowess.....not too mention the secondary characters were fun to watch including Krystal and Park Hyung Shik. See it had a strong cast to back up......the King does not have it....Lee Min Ho has to do heavy lifting and he is doing a less than stellar job.

    • Lack of what ??
      Seriously shin hye is really good in acting tree of heaven , pinocchio , don't worry I am ghost , flower boy nextdoor ..etc I don't know why people intended to put down of others in heirs the KES who wrote their characters with weak conversation but the people still blame shin hye for crying ...blah blah seriously in this drama you blame the writer and in heirs you blame shin hye's acting !!!!???

    • @NileRose Park Shin Hye was not at her best during Heirs. She did improve on with later projects but Heirs was she at her absolute lowest point. I stand by what I've said. I liked her better in her films, I liked her better in Doctors.

    • Totally agree with Gem, PSH wasnt at her best. I really like her personally, she's cool. But doesnt mean i will only talk good things about her, when it comes to criticism, it's good for helping her improve her acting skill.

      @nilerose in this drama i BLAME ALMOST EVERY SINGLE PART OF THIS DRAMA. Actor, script writer, director, chemistry, plot, story, even the ost isnt easy listening. Let be honest, do you really think that PSH in the heirs was the best compare to Krystal and Kim Jiwon? Really? Do you think it's the best she can do??? No. She can do better. That's why we hope she can act better and get more challenging role.

    • For me shin hye working on script which was written by KES which doesn't give her justice in heirs you know KES the famous writer calling her for a role for shin hye is big offer and this script was being written every episode so after this drama KES apologized for crying scenes and for me her female leads are just pillow for male lead but my complaints is everyone blaming her on something not her fault the other characters was wow like Krystal ..etc .
      My point is the script and the power of dialogues is what make the whole show is powerful or not who make the cast showing their best in acting which make the shin hye character basic without any additional spark because the writer want this character like this and shin hye is just act according to her writing.

    • Heirs is a mess, and I agree with @NikeRose, the script makes PSH character is the least likable. I hate poor character, but even worse, poor and weak. All she did everyday was whining and balling her eyes. No self improvement at the end.
      So you can’t blame PSH for her acting because she delivered exactly what it’s been written for her character. You can blame her for choosing such a poor written female character to act.
      Look at IU role in “My mister” to compare, a strong script with good character development brings the best out of her: poor, look weak outside but strong, street smart and dependable.

• Actually i love watching The king of Eternal Monarch. Watching this drama allows me to do multitasking. Also this drama helps relieve my insomnia. lol