Lee Joon Gi arrives at the opening ceremony of the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) on October 12, 2006 in Pusan, South Korea. (Photo : Getty Images/Chung Sung Jun)
After nearly two months, "Scarlet Heart Ryeo" finally claimed the top spot in the Monday and Tuesday primetime drama TV rating competition. Lee Joon Gi's SBS historical series' recent viewership share bested other dramas such as "Woman with a Suitcase" and "Sweet Stranger and Me."
"Scarlet Heart Ryeo" has overtaken its competitor dramas in the Monday and Tuesday primetime broadcast schedule. Aired on Oct. 24, Monday, the SBS drama's episode 17 posted TV ratings of 9.8 percent, according to Nielsen Korea, as cited by Korea Herald.
Lee's historical series beat MBC's "Woman with a Suitcase" and the new KBS drama "Sweet Stranger and Me." Having replaced Park Bo Gum's hit series "Moonlight Drawn by Clouds," KBS' new drama debuted with a TV rating of 9 percent while "Woman with a Suitcase" posted a viewership share of 8.3 percent.
Despite the SBS drama's new top spot in the viewership rating race, "Scarlet Heart Ryeo" was unable to match the popularity of Park's drama "Moonlight Drawn by Clouds." The said KBS series ended its 18-episode run during the week of Oct. 17 with TV ratings of more than 22 percent.
With the SBS historical series' upcoming finale week, the drama may not be able to surpass the 15 percent TV rating mark. Lee's drama only recently broke through the 10 percent rating mark with its episode 18 that was released on Oct. 25, Tuesday.
In an interview with Singles magazine, as cited by All Kpop, Lee confessed his disappointment over the SBS drama's TV ratings. Given the success of the drama's original Chinese version, the actor felt saddened that its Korean remake posted low viewership shares since it aired its first episode in August.
The said series may have registered disappointing TV ratings, however, the SBS drama received positive feedback given Lee's performance. Close monitoring of acting scenes and watching live broadcasts were some of the techniques that the actor employed to see problem areas that he can further improve on, according to Lee.
"Scarlet Heart Ryeo" will air it final two episodes on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 on SBS. Watch the preview for the drama's penultimate episode below:
