[HanCinema's News] "Red Balloon" Concludes Impressive Run for TV Chosun

TV Chosun has avoided being overly aggressive in the television drama marketplace, despite some noteworthy successes. The cable network is the local South Korean distributor for all three seasons of the social romance drama "Love ft. Marriage and Divorce" with older stars than is typical for the genre. The third season ended with ratings of 10.395% last year. However, TV Chosun also ran "Becoming Witch" in 2022, a black comedy that ended with ratings of 1.071%.

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"Red Balloon" could have gone either way. The gloomily themed family drama premiered with ratings of 3.742% on December 17th. However, with screenwriter Moon Yeong-nam and director Jin Hyeong-wook of "Liver or Die" leading the project, "Red Balloon" quickly gathered momentum. The final episode on February 26th registered ratings of 11.566%- while this was nothing unusual compared to popular weekend family dramas, "Red Balloon" had a noticeably deeper fanbase.

"Red Balloon" has regularly featured in the Good Data Report, for example, showing particularly strong metrics when it comes to search results as more viewers expressed interest in the program. The popularity is all the more surprising because "Red Balloon" lacks bombast. The drama has premise that's difficult to describe compared to more straightforward dramas like "Crash Course in Romance" or "Agency" with more clearly defined plot hooks.

But that might be the drama's main advantage. While the breakdown of a long-running friendship between middle-aged adults may not be high concept, it's imminently relatable material for the older audiences who are inclined to watch TV Chosun, and the overall quality of the production has allowed its popularity to spread organically. Nor is this sort of popularity arc unusual- "Liver or Die" was a smash hit with similar theming, breaking the 20% rating in a weekday slot.

Not all such moody dramas are successful- JTBC in particular has had poor luck finding audiences for moodier projects. Yet Moon Yeong-nam's style is well-suited to a more conservative network that's more inclined to posit individual personalities rather than society at large as the source of social discord. Whatever the cause for "Red Balloon" being popular, TV Chosun has no dramas active, and is biding its time in the hopes that its next drama will also be a hit.

Written by William Schwartz

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"Red Balloon" is directed by Jin Hyeong-wook, Lee Seung-hoon-VI, written by Moon Yeong-nam, and features Seo Ji-hye, Lee Sung-jae, Hong Soo-hyun, Lee Sang-woo, Jung Yoo-min, Jung Bo-suk. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2022/12/17~2023/02/26, Sat, Sun 21:10 on TV Chosun.