[HanCinema's News] JTBC Closes 2023 Out after Remarkable Hot Streak

Last year was rough for JTBC, as the cable network only had one hit for the entire year- "Reborn Rich" at the tail end, although that drama certainly made an impression as one of the most popular South Korean dramas of all time. The success of the reincarnation themed corporate family series turned out to be a harbinger for a very strong year at JTBC. "Reborn Rich" was immediately followed up with "Agency" and that office drama topped out with ratings of 16.044% in its finale.

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The success of "Agency" was all the more remarkable given its strong competition. "Crash Course in Romance" on tvN narrowly won that competition with 17.038% and the legal drama "Payback" was no slouch either with 11.1% ratings in its finale. "Agency" had little to obviously recommend it outside of leading star Lee Bo-young. Nevertheless, it nearly quadrupled its initial ratings of 4.797%.

"Divorce Attorney Shin" followed up with a comparably modest finale of 9.488% ratings, still plenty impressive in its own right. But "Doctor Cha" has a much bigger hit for the network with ratings of 18.546%, from a similarly low starting point of 4.937% in its first episode. "Agency" and "Doctor Cha" together strongly established viewer interest in stories about women with professional jobs, an often underrated genre of popular storytelling.

"King the Land" was a more typical success, the romance drama clearly framed with Lee Junho and Lim Yoona as major appealing stars, ending with ratings of 13.789% and also proving to be a major worldwide hit via Netflix. "Strong Girl Nam-soon" combines elements of both, the hybrid show ending with 10.42% ratings. And even now, the relatively low expectation "Welcome to Samdal-ri" saw its ratings shoot up to 8.295% in its most recent episode, the sixth.

What's the cause behind the strong performance of JTBC dramas this year? The most obvious change is mainly that the stories are now more dynamic and goal-driven. They're less introspective, but still contain the social criticism JTBC is best known for. It might also help that JTBC has only been trying to run a single drama timeslot all year. This has allowed for more focused marketing, drawing more attention to the network's current scripted project.

Written by William Schwartz