Popular rom-coms bring back viewers to local TV broadcasters

A scene from the series, “Business Proposal” / Screencapture from SBS's “Business Proposal”

Local TV networks have been enjoying a rise in viewership with their current romantic comedies, backed by a newfound boom in the genre here.

Starring Kim Tae-ri, "Twenty Five Twenty One," tvN's weekend primetime series that started Feb. 12, posted 10.9 percent and 10.7 percent for its 11th and 12th episode last weekend, respectively, marking the highest numbers among high-profile weekend TV series on air.

The ratings are also higher than the cable channel's previous weekend shows, the fantasy "Immortality" (2021), which logged 6.3 percent in viewership, and the blockbuster thriller "Jirisan" (2021) with 10.7 percent.

The viewership rating of "Military Prosecutor Doberman," a Monday-Tuesday legal drama on the same channel, reached 8.8 percent this week, becoming the most-watched show on tvN's same time slot in three years.

SBS's "Business Proposal," about an unexpected romance between a woman and her CEO after a blind date, also saw its viewership top 10 percent this week for the first time since it began airing Feb. 28.

It became the second SBS program being broadcast Monday and Tuesday night to surpass 10-percent viewership since last year, following the historical romance "Lovers of the Red Sky" (2021), which hit 10.4 percent.

The romance "Our Beloved Summer," the predecessor of "Business Proposal," gained larger-than-expected popularity at home and abroad, but its viewership only reached 5.3 percent.

On top of that, JTBC saw its weekend romance "Forecasting Love and Weather" make a rebound in its viewership, which had been struggling with low demand in recent months.

The love story of people working in the Korea Meteorological Administration logged a viewership of 7.6 percent for its latest episode last weekend.

It is the highest among JTBC's weekend nighttime TV series over the past years, including the melodrama "Lost," starring Jeon Do-yeon, and the comedy "Inspector Koo," starring Lee Young-ae, all of which failed to hit a 5 percent viewership. (Yonhap)