'Descendants of the Sun' dominates drama scene this year

Posters of KBS drama series "Uncontrollably Fond"

By Park Jin-hai

"Descendants of the Sun," KBS mega-hit drama has dominated local dramas for the first half of this year. The period virtually started with the "Descendants" and ended with it.

The 16-episode war time romance drama, starring Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo, has left many viewers sleepless at night both in and out of Korea.

The first TV series jointly produced by Korean and Chinese production companies and aired in both nations from February to April, instantly emerged as a huge hallyu hit.

"Descendants of the Sun" / Courtesy of KBS

Based on high quality content, the drama, featuring a romance between an army captain and a female doctor in the fictional war-torn country of Uruk, premiered with 14.3 percent viewership and ended with a nearly miraculous 40 percent rating.

In China, "Descendants" attracted billions of viewers on iQiyi, a Chinese broadcasting and video sharing platform. The drama's popularity, mainly stemming from its lead actor Song, created a "Song Joong-ki Wife Contest" in some countries, which was held to give fans the opportunity to meet the actor up close.

Culture critic Kim Hern-sik attributes the drama's success to a story line that can rarely be seen in China, where stories about aliens, the army and super natural powers are strictly restricted.

Poster of tvN's "Cheese in the Trap" / Courtesy of CJ E&M

"No one expected this drama would be this successful. Prior to ‘Descendants,' most hallyu dramas were themed on the financially successful upper class as seen in ‘Boys Over Flowers' and ‘The Heirs,' which cater to Chinese taste" he said "But as much as ‘My Love from the Star,' the previous mega-hit K-drama, the ‘Descendants' has taken China by storm because we made something that they cannot. There is the army and the fictional country Uruk, which cover the Chinese viewers' need for elements of fantasy in drama."

Chinese media giant Huace Group plans to make the drama into a film.

Rise of tvN

Cable channels have outperformed national television networks in terms of viewership during the first six months of this year and this trend seems to be continuing.

Among cable channels, tvN's advance has become noticeable, which has grown even more as the three major national broadcasters all failed to draw the viewers' attention despite giving them star-studded casts.

Posters of tvN drama series "Signal"

Although tvN is a late comer, marking its 10th anniversary this year, it showed the possibility that it could make a well-made drama with "Misaeng" in 2014, which was followed by a handful of other dramas whose viewership ratings actually surpassed those of national broadcasters this year.

From "Reply 1988," "Cheese in the Trap" and "Signal" to the most recent "Another Oh Hae-young," tvN has shown that the power of drama comes from plot and fresh ideas and not just from star-studded casts.

"tvN didn't' follow the conventional success equation of drama. Instead, it injected fresh ideas and new formats that enticed young viewers to sit in front of their TV screens," said culture critic Ha jae-geun.

"Reply 1988"

The "Reply 1988," a rarely seen family drama targeting young viewers, has posted an 18.8 percent viewership, the record high among cable dramas yet, while "Cheese in the Trap," a webtoon-based mystery romance, starring Park Hye-jin, has earned so much popularity with its unusual plot that a jointly financed Korean-Chinese production will make it into a film for a 2017 release.

The time-travel crime series "Signal" has also become a critical success as well, concluding with a solid 12.5 percent viewership on the cable channel in March, where anything above 3 percent is considered successful for a Korean cable series. With no hallyu star, the drama recorded more than 100 million downloads on the Chinese video website Tencent since April 18, which makes this one of the top 10 most viewed dramas on the site.

"The strength of tvN partly comes from star producers who have left major broadcasters to find a new home at tvN to try out experimental new formats and plots," said Ha.

"Another Oh Hae-young." / Courtesy of CJ E&M

Following the lead of Rhee Myung-han, big name producers including Shin Won-ho and Na Young-seok made a large exodus to tvN, and are believed to have brought about tvN's success.

More stars are heading to the cable channel as well. Most recently, actress Jeon Do-yeon, who received the best actress award at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, chose to return to the small screen after 11 years with tvN's new drama "Good Wife."

Out of cliches

The first half has also seen a rich selection of romantic dramas. Whether there contain elements of mystery or comedy. The one big word running from "Descendants" to "Cheese in the Trap" to "Another Oh Hae-young," has been romance.

Yet, those dramas have adopted fresh story materials and perspectives, away from old cliches.

tvN's Monday-Tuesday drama "Another Oh Hae-young," staves off the typical Cinderella story and tells the love story of an unlucky woman named Oh Hae-young who keeps suffering mishaps due to her charming colleague of the same name and a sound director who has the ability to see the future.

The drama has topped its own viewership record with each episode since it premiered on May 2. Due to its popularity, its initial 16 episodes have been expanded to 18 episodes, while closing the drama with a 10 percent viewership rating from just 2 percent in first episode. Its rating has been the fourth highest among cable dramas following "Reply 1988," 18.8 percent, "Signal," 12.5 percent and "Reply 1994," 10.4 percent.

"Signal" also recently started to inject elements that appeal to women in the crime drama.

"Given the limitations of the genre, I never expected ‘Signal' to be a big hit." said culture critic Kim. "Previous crime dramas have been largely male-centered. By placing the actress Kim Hye-soo at the center as a female detective, it has succeeded in injecting elements appealing to women and the result is that it was incredibly well made and drew huge female audiences to the drama."

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