Recently, Joy News 24 magazine conducted a survey from September 30 to October 8, related to many contents of the Korean entertainment industry such as TV series, entertainment, movies, actors, singers... in 2024.
200 industry workers, including employees of entertainment companies and broadcasters, film and television content producers, as well as entertainment reporters, participated in the survey.
In the list of TV series of the year, two tvN series, "Queen of Tears" (Kim Soo Hyun, Kim Ji Won) and "Running With You" (Byeon Woo Seok, Kim Hye Yoon) tied for first place, with 60 votes each.
Third place went to “Perfect Partner” (Jang Nara, Nam Ji Hyun) with 19 votes. Fourth place went to “Mysterious Connection” (Ji Sung) with 8 votes. Two films, “Snow White's Death” and “Goryeo-Khitan War” tied for fifth place with 7 votes.
According to Joy News 24, “Lovely Runner” was initially not expected because it did not feature famous stars. The highest viewership rating when it aired on tvN was only 5.8%. But it created an explosive wave on social media.
Short clips related to “Running With This Brother” flooded online communities and YouTube. The “Seon Jae” (the male lead character’s name) craze continued even after the drama ended.
According to CJ ENM's analysis, "Running With You" recorded more than 50% viewership across all platforms, captivating the MZ generation.
“Running With You recorded the highest viewership ratings among women in their 20s among Korean dramas aired this year,” said Park Sang Hyuk, head of CJ ENM’s business division. He also said that the drama’s popularity has surpassed its TV viewership ratings.
In particular, this film was the launching pad that made actor Byeon Woo Seok shine, becoming a sought-after face.
If "Carry Me Running" was an unexpected success, then "Queen of Tears" was an expected success.
The two main actors Kim Soo Hyun and Kim Ji Won are both famous stars of Korean cinema. The script was written by screenwriter Park Ji Eun - the "mother" of many famous TV dramas such as "My Love from the Star", "Crash Landing on You", "Legend of the Blue Sea", "Queen of Housewives"...
"Queen of Tears" achieved a rating of 13% after only 4 episodes and skyrocketed to 24.9% in the final episode, setting a record for the highest rating in tvN history, ranking 3rd in the list of highest rated TV series in Korean cable channel history.
