The second episode of the new MBC drama When the Phone Rings aired last night to a fall in ratings versus its first episode.
According to the latest data from Nielsen Korea, the nationwide rating for When the Phone Rings, Episode 2 was 4.7 percent versus Episode 1’s 5.5 percent.
A similar drop occurred from audiences in Seoul, where Episode 2 garnered 4.8 percent of the viewership compared to its previous episode’s 5.4 percent.
Saturday evening is the busiest evening of the entire week for Korean dramas, however, with The Fiery Priest 2 airing in the same time slot (and grabbing its highest ratings yet last night), and Love Your Enemy, Marry YOU and the weekend’s #1 show Iron Family all airing on the same night.
That often means, even if all those Korean dramas aren’t airing at the same time, people generally do not want to watch three or four dramas in one night. So one or two of them suffer in the ratings.
When the Phone Rings ratings still very strong after Episode 2
As for When the Phone Rings, Episode 2 ratings, even with a drop in viewership last night, both its nationwide and Seoul ratings were still incredibly strong.
Especially considering the Korean drama airs directly opposite the massively popular The Fiery Priest 2.
Remember too, many dramas also see a drop in ratings for their second episode, then rally and head right back up.
That is why, until at least the next couple of episodes of When the Phone Rings air, it is too early to make a guess as to where its ratings may ultimately end up.
My guess is they will head back up.
Meanwhile, the Korean drama is still being rated very high on various Asian drama-focused websites.
When the Phone Rings stars Yoo Yeon Seok, Chae Soo Bin, as the main leads.
Episode 3 of the Korean mystery thriller will air on Saturday, November 30th on MBC in South Korea, and will stream on Netflix in some regions.
We will also be back here on Leo Sigh on Tuesday, once Netflix releases its latest viewing data, to let you know if When the Phone Rings hit the streaming services Top 10 Non-English TV Shows chart.
See you then.
UPDATE: When the Phone Rings grabs highest ratings yet for its third episode
