[HanCinema's News] KBS Hopes to Improve Performance in September

September 5th will see the premiere of "The Law Cafe" on KBS. This marks a rare opportunity for the network to actually cash in on a trend. The legal-themed romance had been in production for quite some time, and is based on the webtoon of the same title. There had been no particularly strong expectation that this genre mash would strike a chord with viewers. Then "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" became the surprise hit of the summer, greatly changing the drama landscape.

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One such drama that "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" easily outperformed this summer was "Cafe Minamdang" on KBS. "Cafe Minamdang" was not an unpopular drama, but the mystery comedy about a shaman began and ended at 5.7%. The show had a strong hook, but couldn't capitalize on it beyond a core audience who would be interested in the premise. Such mediocrity has been the case for KBS more often than not in recent years.

"If You Wish Upon Me" is a more dramatic misfire in this regard. The sentimental drama about a hospice opened with fairly weak ratings of 3.6% and has since dipped to ratings of 2.4% in its most recent episode, the sixth, which aired on August 25th. Even the normally reliable Ji Chang-wook and Sung Dong-il in leading roles have not been much help to the drama, and KBS has been left without little popular exposure during the break between "Cafe Minamdang" and "The Law Cafe" that's lasting a week.

It remains unclear how much KBS really needs hits, as they have strong control over their sentimental niche. "It's Beautiful Now" is the only current weekend family drama, with high ratings in the 28.2% range albeit with limited influence outside of television. "It's Beautiful Now" will be followed by "Three Bold Siblings" on September 25th that can likely expect a similar performance. Nevertheless, better performances are still worth hoping for.

Written by William Schwartz