Fans of the ongoing Korean drama Between Him and Her were probably upset yesterday as Episode 5 of the romance drama did not air on Channel A as usual last night.
Nor did it stream on Viki.
Why did Between Him and Her, Episode 5 not air on January 23rd and when can you expect to be able to watch it then?
Between Him and Her schedule change
After the once-a-week K-drama aired on Tuesday evening beginning on December 26th and then aired every Tuesday through January 16th, Channel A has decided to permanently move it from its Tuesday slot to a different day and time.
This is due to the Korean drama earning the lowest rating ever for a Channel A drama, starting out at just 0.50 percent on December 26th and then dropping to a barely discernible 0.16 percent for Episode 4 on January 16th.
With the possibility that a Friday evening slot may resurrect the rapidly failing drama, Channel A has decided to change its air time and date to Friday evenings at 23:10 (KST) beginning with Episode 5 on January 26th.
Will a schedule change improve Between Him and Her ratings?
Unfortunately for Channel A, even moving Between Him and Her to a Friday evening slot isn’t likely to improve the Korean drama’s ratings much.
After all, fans who are used to twice-a-week shows dislike once-a-week dramas, so they often perform poorly.
Throw in that a schedule change is disruptive and rarely helps, and that the new air time has moved from Tuesdays at 22:30 (KST) to the even later time slot of 23:10 (KST) on Fridays, and airing Between Him and Her on Fridays will likely be a failure for this drama too.
International viewers also seem to be losing interest in the drama, as they complain about the female lead’s unwillingness to talk causing many of the relationship problems while the male lead is simply too immature.
Many are also pointing out the script is poorly written.
As one commenter mentioned on Viki, the plot is also badly-paced:
Started off great but the glacial release of episodes and the slow pace of the drama makes one lose interest in the characters.
while another disliked how uninspiring the story has turned out to be:
I really wanted to like this, but so far it’s too depressing for me. They’ve gotten bored with each other and then the female lead refuses to talk after the big ‘hotel issue’. It may get better but I’m moving onto something happier.
Between Him and Her is still rated a 9.1 out of 10 by Viki viewers though, although My Drama List users have already dropped it to a low 7.7 out of 10.
Let’s see if the Korean drama earns a ratings increase on Friday, eh?
Between Him and Her stars Lee Donghae, Lee Seol, Im Jae Hyuk, Yoon Ye Ju, and Choi Won Myeong.
Starting on Friday, January 26th, the Korean drama will air every Friday on Channel A at 23:10 until March 1st.