Low Ratings Sink Fantasy Romance
KBS’s much-hyped Wednesday-Thursday drama ‘My Girlfriend is a Boy’ has officially ended—quietly. According to Nielsen Korea, the drama’s final episode on the 29th drew a dismal national viewership of just 1.1%. Across its 12-episode run, the highest it reached was a modest 1.7%—an early peak followed by a slow and steady slump.
Fantasy Premise, Star-Studded Cast
The drama, adapted from a webtoon of the same title, was a gender-bending romantic fantasy starring Oh My Girl’s Arin as Kim Ji-eun, a woman who magically transforms into a man, and ASTRO’s Yoon Sanha as her equally confused boyfriend, Park Yoon-jae. The cast also included former LOONA member Chuu as ‘hot girl’ Kang Min-joo and rookie actor Yoo Jung-hoo as the male version of Ji-eun.
From Webtoon Wonder to TV Trouble
The drama premiered on July 23 with hopes of leveraging its quirky concept and visual cast. But despite its niche appeal, viewership numbers stayed stubbornly low—hovering between 0% and 1%. The 10th episode even plummeted to a jaw-dropping 0.5% rating, sounding alarm bells for the network.
KBS Shakes Up Drama Strategy
The show’s underwhelming performance becomes even more glaring when compared to its predecessor, ‘I Got the First Night with My Crush’, which pulled a respectable 3.4% at its peak. In response, KBS has decided to axe its entire Wednesday-Thursday drama slot and place its bets on the newly launched weekend slot instead.
The network recently rolled out ‘Twelve’, a Saturday-Sunday crime-action series fronted by blockbuster favorite Ma Dong-seok, a.k.a. Don Lee. It’s part of KBS’s attempt to recalibrate its drama formats and give viewers something to buzz about.
Is Webtoon Gold Losing Its Shine?
Despite the popularity of webtoon-to-drama adaptations in K-dramaland, ‘My Girlfriend is a Boy’ shows that even a trending source material and idol-studded lineup can’t guarantee success. It may be time for networks to rethink how they repackage online fiction for TV.
Will weekend dramas become the new midweek go-to? Only time—and ratings—will tell.
