When the superb K-drama Chief Detective 1958 premiered on April 19th, it did so to huge ratings — especially for an MBC drama airing on a Friday night.
Those ratings, however, dropped for its second episode, likely due to the increased competition the drama faces on Saturdays in South Korea.
But, the data on Chief Detective, 1958, Episode 3 ratings is now out via Nielsen Korea and, nicely, the latest episode of the MBC crime drama earned the show its highest ever ratings on Friday night.
Both nationwide and in Seoul.
That Chief Detective, 1958, Episode 3 was 10.8 percent nationwide, which is up from Episode 1’s previous high of 10.1 percent, and a huge jump from Episode 2’s 7.8 percent of the audience share.
In Seoul, a similar ratings increase occurred, with Friday night’s episode jumping from Episode 1’s 10.3 percent to last night’s 10.6 percent.
Both ratings mean the MBC crime drama was also the #1 most-watched show of any kind on South Korean TV for all of Friday.
A ratings drop for the next episode of Chef Detective 1958?
Sadly, it’s likely Episode 4 of the drama will drop back down in the ratings again tonight.
Primarily because half of the episode airs in the tvN drama Queen of Tears’ time slot. The year’s most successful K-drama so far, and one that ends its 16-episode run tomorrow night.
Fingers crossed, though, after that drama ends, we may see Chief Detective 1958 start to earn high Saturday ratings just like it is doing on Fridays.
Chief Detective 1958 stars Lee Je Hoon, Lee Dong Hwi, Choi Woo Sung and Yoon Hyun Soo.
Its next episode airs on MBC tonight at  21:50 (KST), with Disney Plus streaming it for international K-drama fans.