[Hot Takes from the Noonas] "Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth" begins with low ratings

KBS flower boy sageuk, "Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth" began airing this week and suffered disappointing ratings with 6.9% for its first episode and 7.2% for its second episode. What went wrong?

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The producers must be asking themselves that very question, though it is too early to label "Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth" a failure. And, since the show is pre-filmed, panic might creep in, because there is nothing that can be done on the fly to boost ratings.

The pre-filmed format of "Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth" might be partially to blame. It has not been a winning formula for any drama in 2016 other than "Descendants of the Sun". However, the format has been a necessary one in order to reach the lucrative Chinese market.

Another problem is that "Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth" faces stiff competition in its time slot with "Dr. Romantic". The SBS medical drama snagged 22.6% and 22.9% of Korean viewers during the airing of the first and second episodes of "Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth", respectively. "Dr. Romantic" started on November 7 with a more modest 9.5% rating. Over the past six weeks, it has steadily built up its viewership, reaching number one in its time slot a couple of weeks ago. "Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth" is unlikely to wrestle a committed audience away from "Dr. Romantic", and probably cannot expect a bump in its ratings until the competing drama ends in three weeks.

So, if the producers of "Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth" were going to blame anything within their control for the early failure of their drama, it should probably be the marketing. I would argue that there is a very limited audience for its rather cheesy, provocative posters; from the boys giddily frolicking amongst flower petals to Park Seo-joon getting lost in the touch of his own lips.

However, what's done is done, and hopefully, the writer of "Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth" created a drama filled with the expected bromance, but also, action and depth not touted by the marketing. Then, maybe, the viewers of "Dr. Romantic" will give it a chance when they are cut adrift in three weeks.

Love,

JK of Noonas Over Forks