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MBC Slump Taking Longer

MBC, once called the "Drama Kingdom" is not rebounding. MBC's poor performance is prolonged in both ratings and popularity.

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Last year, MBC dramas produced no works with ratings exceeding 10%. Although it was the first groundwave broadcasting company to change its broadcasting time from 10PM to 9PM, it did not improve in ratings.

The highest-grossing drama was "Partners for Justice Season 2" which had a highest rating of 9.9% while "One Spring Night" starring Han Ji-min and Jung Hae-in and "Special Labor Inspector, Mr. Jo" starring Kim Dong-wook, only managed to save face.

It was quite different from SBS's "VIP", "The Fiery Priest" and "Vagabond" and KBS's "Liver or Die" and "When the Camellia Blooms". In the first half of 2020, the slump in groundwave dramas continued and that's why MBC's slump seems even worse.

As such, MBC overcame harsh reviews and poor performance in 2019 to reorganize itself with an ambitious lineup, but failed to make a clear turnaround. There are dramas that have caught the fanatics with their excellent workmanship, such as "365: Repeat the Year" and "Find Me in Your Memory" but so far, there has been no 'big hits'.

"365: Repeat the Year", the first runner of the revival of the Monday-Tuesday drama, which had been abolished since "Welcome 2 Life" in September last year, received favorable reviews, combining interesting subjects, directing and actors' good performances, but remained a disappointing performance with a highest audience rating of 5.1%.

There were several dramas that were highly anticipated before broadcast, but once they came out, they did not meet the expectations of viewers. Song Seung-heon's return to acting in romance after seven years, "Dinner Mate" is one example. Song Seung-heon, as well as female lead Seo Ji-hye, have been highly anticipated for the two's collaboration because it is her first drama since "Crash Landing on You", but the highest viewer rating remains at 3-4%.

The situation on Wednesday – Thursday is not much different. Starring Lee Yeon-hee and Ok Taecyeon, "The Game: Towards Zero" ended without much attention, while "Find Me in Your Memory" and "Kkondae Intern" captured the fanatics and showed high popularity, but showed disappointing results in ratings.

As such, attention is drawn to the next upcoming drama. For MBC, which must work hard in the second half of 2020, it has no choice but to pay more attention to its next drama.

"She Knows Everything" is currently in the 3~4% range and ends this week. Coming up next is "CHIP-IN" starring Kim Hye-jun and Oh Na-ra. "CHIP-IN" is a mystery drama about people's fierce brain fights over the tens of billions of property of famous painters. It begins on the 22nd at 9:30PM.

The most anticipated project is "SF8", a project produced by MBC in collaboration with the Korean Film Directors' Association (DGK) and Wavve. It is a project that eight directors from the Korean Film Directors' Association have completed by covering materials such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), robots, games, fantasy, horror, superpowers, and disasters, respectively.

"SF8" is complete with interesting materials and solid scenarios set in the future world. Eight directors from the Korean Film Directors' Association are in charge of the production and actors including Choi Si-won, UEE, Lee Yeon-hee, Moon So-ri and Lee Dong-hwi make up the fancy cast.

It is like bringing the contents of a short film to the small screen. For MBC, it is an experimental challenge. Attention is focusing on whether MBC's endless challenges will reach viewers.

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