‘Missing 9’ Debut: MBC Melodramatic K-Drama With Parallels To ‘Lost’ Premieres With Low But Better Ratings Than ‘Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo’ [Video]
https://youtu.be/CmLiLOlIor4
Last Wednesday and Thursday, the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), the Korean public television station known for their hit 2016 K-dramas W and Shopping King Louis, just aired their first K-drama for 2017. It was on many K-drama fans’ radars as one of the series to check out this month and is called Missing 9.
Also known as Missing Nine, the melodramatic K-drama with elements of romantic comedy is a story about a plane crash that has all of South Korea in a widespread panic because of the disappearance of nine people on the plane, including some influential figures in Legend Entertainment. The “Missing 9” include former Dream band members Seo Joon Oh (Jung Kyung Ho), Choi Tae Ho (Choi Tae Joon), Lee Yeol (Park Chan Yeol), Joon Oh’s stylist Ra Bong Hee (Baek Jin Hee), Joon Oh’s manager Jung Ki Joon (Oh Jung Se), the most successful celebrity of Legend Entertainment Ha Ji Ah (Lee Sun Bin), Legend Entertainment President Hwang Jae Guk (Kim Sang Ho) and his secretary Tae Ho Hang (Tae Hang Ho), and Hallyu goddess actress Yoon So Hee (Ryu Won).
Missing 9, which has parallels to American drama Lost, recently aired its first two episodes, and unfortunately, the ratings were low. However, it still did better than its predecessor Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo, so there is hope it will grow in popularity.
According to the viewership ratings provided by both TNmS Media Korea and AGB Nielsen Korea, the first episode achieved a nationwide viewership rating of 5.6 percent and Seoul National Capital Area viewership rating of 6.4 percent for the former and nationwide viewership rating of 6.5 percent and Seoul National Capital Area viewership rating of 6.9 percent. There was a bit of a drop in viewership ratings across the board for the second episode, but it is still too early to count out Missing 9.
For starters, Missing 9 had a higher viewership for its debut and second episode than its predecessor Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo. Also, the first episode was able to attain over 6.0 percent in viewership.Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo was not able to attain any viewership percentage over 6.0 percent until it was almost finished.
To be frank, it would have been a miracle if Missing 9 were to get decent debut viewership ratings given the fact it is airing alongside the powerhouse K-drama The Legend of the Blue Sea. With just one final episode to air, K-drama fans are vested in seeing how the fantasy romance K-drama starring Jun Ji Hyun and Lee Min Ho will conclude.
With Missing 9 just beginning, fans of The Legend of the Blue Sea who wanted to check out the K-drama will not have much to catch up on.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead! Skip To Last Paragraph!
So far, the Legend Entertainment personal plane has crashed on a deserted island. Seo Joon Oh and Ra Bong Hee, the two who thought they were the only survivors, are finding others after building housing and securing food. So far, they have found Lee Yeol, Ha Ji Ah, and Yoon So Hee.
When The Legend of the Blue Sea concludes this coming week, Missing 9 will have its fair chance in getting its cut of viewership. Until then, K-drama fans interested in Missing 9 can watch upcoming episodes on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10 p.m. KST on MBC. For those living in the Americas who don’t have access to Korean public channels, it can be viewed exclusively on DramaFever by its fully written title Missing Nine.
[Featured Image by the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC)]
