'Numbers' in crisis Myung-soo Kim, Jin-hyeok Choi, and Tae-ri Kim lost to 'The Devil'

MBC is struggling to get out of the swamp of sluggish ratings. Kim Myeong-soo and Choi Jin-hyeok, who appeared in the crisis, united as 'Numbers: Watchers of the Building Forest', but lost in a head-to-head confrontation with the 'devil', in which writers Tae-ri Kim and Eun-hee Kim teamed up.

'Numbers: Watchers of the Building Forest (hereinafter referred to as Numbers)' is still aired until the second episode, so it is too soon to conclude, but like the name, it seems that there is a possibility that it will become a watcher who only watches the ratings of works in the same time period.

MBC showed a series of dramas on Friday and Saturday, including 'Golden Marriage, Joseon Marriage Prohibition', 'Kokdu's Season', and 'Joseon Lawyer', which ended in January this year. When the ratings were sluggish due to competing works, he eventually had a month-long break after the end of 'The Joseon Lawyer'.

The work that announced the end of the break was 'Numbers: Observers in the Building Forest (hereinafter referred to as Numbers)', which was first broadcast on June 23rd. 'Numbers' tells the story of Jang Ho-woo (played by Kim Myung-soo), a high school graduate accountant, who fights against the absurdities of a huge accounting firm and realizes justice in the most accountant-like but least accountant-like way.

The first broadcast of 'Numbers' recorded an audience rating of 4.4%, announcing a good start. The second broadcast on the 24th recorded 4%, down 0.4%p. Compared to the 2.8% and 2.9% recorded in the previous work, 'The Joseon Lawyer', it is not bad, but the story is different when compared with 'The Devil', which is being aired at the same time.

'Ghost' is a Korean occult mystery drama in which a woman possessed by a demon and a man who can see the demon uncover a mysterious death. It is a new work by Kim Eun-hee, who is known as the master of genres such as 'Sign', 'Ghost', 'Signal' and the Netflix series 'Kingdom'. Here, Kim Tae-ri, Oh Jeong-se, Hong Kyung, and others were in harmony.

'Ghost' was broadcast 10 minutes later than 'Numbers' on the same day and met with viewers. 'Ghost' recorded viewership ratings of 9.9% and 10%. It showed double-digit viewership ratings after the second episode aired. In fact, I had higher expectations for 'Ghost' than 'Numbers', which airs at the same time. There was also curiosity about the meeting between writer Kim Eun-hee and Kim Tae-ri, and a Korean-style occult mystery thriller. As curiosity and anticipation were high, the ratings reflected this. 'Ghost' recorded the highest viewership rating of 13.1% at the moment.

Previously, Choi Jin-hyeok said, “There are various dramas pouring out, including ‘Ghost’, but in fact, isn’t a drama a guarantee of box office success? It’s something we can’t decide. Yes, so I don't care about the box office performance or anything like that." Kim Myung-soo hoped, "I'm just filming hard to become a well-made drama. I hope viewers will enjoy watching it."

The first week of 'Numbers', which had a head-to-head confrontation with 'Ghost', was not bad, but lost to the competition. As 'Numbers' has just started, there is an opportunity to rebound. It is because Kim Myung-soo (Infinite L), who returned with his first work after being discharged from the military, is attracting sympathy and support with a more mature appearance. Since we are making it so that you can immerse yourself in it, attention is focusing on what kind of grades you will receive in the future.

Reporter Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia kkk39@tenasia.co.kr