Why did The Midnight Studio Ep 6 not air on Tuesday night?

Photo courtesy ENA

A recap of Episodes 1-5 will air tonight instead of The Midnight Studio, Ep 6

Fans of the ongoing fantasy romance drama The Midnight Studio will have been disappointed today to learn the Korean drama’s sixth episode will not be releasing today.

Instead, streaming services like Viki are marking The Midnight Studio, Episode 6 as “Available in 6 days“, which means you won’t be able to watch the next episode of the Joo Won-led drama until Monday, April 1st.

Annoying, eh?

However South Korean broadcaster ENA not airing The Midnight Studio, Episode 6 does actually make sense. And here is why.

Why did The Midnight Studio, Episode 6 not air on Tuesday night?

The next episode of the ENA drama has been postponed until next Monday due to a football game in the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup Asian region second-round qualifiers being aired on another network.

South Korea being a football mad nation (soccer, for Americans), it is patently obvious The Midnight Studio would have lost many of its viewers, most of whom would be watching the Thailand vs South Korean football game tonight instead.

After all, not only is the South Korean team a big contender in the FIFA World Cup, but they are likely to easily beat Thailand tonight (sorry, I lived in Thailand for 15 years, and have seen the national team play several teams and, no, they are no match for Korea).

On top of that, The Midnight Studio, Episode 5 already saw a ratings drop last night, so all the Korean drama needs is a complete collapse tonight.

In other words, well done, ENA for making a decision that benefits this excellent drama.

ENA themselves commented on the postponement of the drama’s next episode on their Instagram account, simply saying:

Episode 6 of The Midnight Studio is canceled due to broadcasting company circumstances. We kindly ask for your understanding, viewers. 

Instead, they aired a recap episode of Episodes 1-5.

We will look forward then to being able to watch The Midnight Studio, Episode 6 when it premieres next Monday.

 

About Michelle Topham

Brit-American journalist based in Austria, former radio DJ at 97X WOXY, and Founder/CEO of Leo Sigh. I've covered K-drama, K-pop, J-pop and music news for over a decade.