According to global streaming platform Rakuten Viki, the Korean drama My Youth has topped the viewership rankings of 88 regions around the world, including the US, UK, India... in its first week after its release.
Rakuten Viki is a platform that provides Asian TV and film streaming services in more than 190 countries. My Youth has surpassed the viewership of many other Korean dramas on this platform such as Queen Mantis, My Troublesome Star, Love, Take Two...
This is in contrast to the opening rating of the first 2 episodes of the work that was not very positive when broadcast on JTBC. According to Nielsen Korea, the ratings of the first two episodes of My Youth have reached only 2.9% and 2.8%, respectively.
My Youth is a romantic drama about Sun Woo Hae (Song Joong Ki) - a former child star who has passed his peak and is now a flower shop owner, starting a simple life later than most people.
Suddenly one day, Woo Hae meets Sung Je Yeon (Chun Woo Hee) - his first love, currently the team leader of an entertainment company. This brought unexpected changes and stirred up his life.
My Youth is a project marking the return of Song Joong Kis first leading role in a TV series in 3 years, since The Youngest Son of a Talented Family in 2022.
The work was highly anticipated when Song Joong Ki collaborated with Chun Woo Hee - the actress who won the Best Actress award at the Blue Dragon Film Awards for the film Han Gong-ju (2014).
However, low opening ratings show that My Youth is not well received by Korean TV audiences.
According to the media, the noise about Song Joong Ki's personal life and marriage has caused the actor to lose points. Song Joong Ki's frequent mention of his wife and children in the media and variety shows also made it difficult for viewers to capture the attention when he played the sweet male lead with a female co-star.
In addition, JTBC's expansion of the show's broadcast schedule for the weekend to Friday has not achieved the desired results. My Youth aired 2 episodes on Friday night, so it was more difficult to attract viewers than the films aired on Saturdays and Sundays.
The development of online platforms also makes Korean dramas attract a clearly different audience. Young audiences tend to watch more films on platforms.
Many works have low ratings on television, but still have a high number of viewers on online platforms. Therefore, currently, the success of a film is not only based on TV ratings.
Being Top 1 in many countries on the Viki platform is a good sign for My Youth.
