According to Wikitree, the new drama Tastefully Yours has been No. 1 on the Korean Netflix chart for 3 consecutive days (15.9), after debuting early last week.
According to analyst FlixPatrol, the film also ranked 2nd on Netflix worldwide on May 15, in the TV show category, and was most watched in 23 countries.
Fcialties of Love tells the romantic story of Han Beom Woo (Kang Ha Neul) - a man who is buying up small restaurants to inherit his familys food corporation, and Mo Yeon Joo (Go Min Si) - an unknown restaurant CEO with only one table in Jeonju.
When broadcast on Korea's ENA, the drama achieved low opening ratings, with the first two episodes only recording 1.6% and 2%. However, the audience's reception through the online platform Netflix is much better.
Of course, it is still necessary to consider the fact that ENA is a small TV channel, so a low viewership rating is not uncommon.
But this contrast reflects how streaming platforms are gradually replacing traditional TV channels, becoming the increasingly popular means of watching movies.
This is not limited to young audiences, but even older audiences tend to switch to online platforms and YouTube instead of traditional TV.
This situation has caused prime-time dramas to struggle with low viewership ratings. Some recent prime-time dramas such as MBC's "Crushology 101", SBS's "Spring of Youth" and KBS's "Kick Kick Kick Kick" have only achieved a rating of about 1%.
Previously, Korean dramas with ratings below 10% were not considered successful. But with the rise of online platforms, audiences have become more strict in choosing content.
The success of many TV series is being greatly affected by the popularity on global online platforms.
Therefore, Korean drama producers are increasingly focusing on distributing films to Netflix, rather than domestic platforms.
Netflix currently has more than 14 million monthly active users in Korea, double the number of Coupang Play or Tving.
However, concerns are also growing about the ecosystem focusing on Netflix. Experts warn that if the Korean content industry continues to rely on a single platform, content diversity could weaken, and Netflix's monopoly will become overwhelming, causing imbalance.
