'Ghost' caught both ratings and buzz... The reason for winning the weekend play 5-way match

Writer Kim Eun-hee's intense return was also proven by numbers. The SBS Friday-Saturday drama 'Ghost' won not only viewership ratings but also OTT rankings, winning the weekend drama 5th round.

'Ghost', which was first broadcast on the 23rd, broke the 10% viewership rating for households in the metropolitan area from the first broadcast, giving off a green light of box office success. Episode 2, which aired the next day, led the viewership ratings to rise, recording 10.8% for households in the metropolitan area and 10% for households nationwide, soaring to a maximum of 13.1% at the moment.

This is the highest record among mini-series broadcast over the past week (June 19-25), and the number of viewers of all ages was counted as 1,242,132. It is the only weekly mini-series that has surpassed 1.2 million viewers. The 2049 audience rating, a key indicator of channel competitiveness and topicality, recorded 5.5% for the second episode, ranking first in the same time zone as well as among all programs broadcast for a week across dramas and entertainment.

It also showed off its potential on the OTT platform. As of the 26th, according to FlixPatrol, 'The Devil' ranked first in the Disney+ Korean TV show category. In Wave, as soon as it was released, it not only recorded first place in the drama category in terms of viewership, but also got off to a good start by receiving the most selection from new paid subscribers. Accordingly, it proved its popularity by taking first place in the integrated 'Content of the Day' in 'Kinolights', an OTT integrated search and content recommendation platform.

From the first week of broadcasting, the reason why 'Ghost' was able to rise to the ranks of topical works at once lies in the elaborate and dense narrative. The mystery of why Koo Gu-mo (played by Jin Seon-gyu) left an ominous item called 'red ribbon' to make daughter San-young (played by Kim Tae-ri) possess an evil spirit, and the death of Yeom Hae-sang (played by Oh Jeong-se) and her mother (played by Park Hyo-joo) in 1995. It goes back to the 1958 case of the murder of a girl in the village of Jangjin-ri, laying the foundation for the mystery. In particular, unlike other occult genres that rely on 'exorcism', folklore, indigenous beliefs, legends, and tales were used as clues to trigger questions, and it received favorable reviews for "presenting a Korean paradigm of occult."

In addition, the occult's unique fear and tension, which makes the heart feel chewy the moment you feel the fun of tracking the mystery together in a moderate setting, have been added to the praise that it has properly saved the beauty of the genre.

From Part 3, full-fledged cooperation between Sanyeong, who wants to prevent the death of people around her, and Hae-hae, who wants to know why the demon killed her mother, was predicted. In particular, at the end of episode 2, a scene in which Choi Man-wol (played by Oh Yeon-ah), a shaman in Jangjin-ri Village, seduces a starving girl with raw meat and strikes it with a knife was revealed. exploded. As the first steps of Sanyeong and Hae-hae, who joined hands to find out who the demon is, head to Jangjin-ri, the popularity of the 'goblin' syndrome is expected to accelerate further.

'Ghost' is broadcast every Friday and Saturday at 10 PM.

Reporter Tae Yuna, Ten Asia youyou@tenasia.co.kr