JTBC’s Once-Weekly Drama “Family by Choice” Struggles with Disappointing 2% Ratings
Premiering on October 9, “Family by Choice” follows 3 young adults who reunite after 10 years of being together as family and another 10 years of longing for each other. The drama, based on the Chinese television drama series “Go Ahead”, stars Hwang In-youp, Jung Chae-yeon, and Bae Hyun-sung in a fresh romantic storyline.
“Family by Choice” is JTBC’s first weekday drama in two months, featuring a new format of airing on Wednesdays with 2 consecutive episodes. This marks JTBC’s return to once-weekly dramas since “Schoolgirl Detectives” 9 years ago.
Historically, once-weekly dramas have struggled, with last year’s MBC drama “A Good Day to Be a Dog” peaking at just 2.8% and dropping to 1.5%. Other shows like KBS2’s “Imitation” and JTBC’s “Nevertheless” maintained ratings around 1%, while SBS’s “Penthouse” saw lower ratings in its third season. The only hit has been “Hospital Playlist.”
Viewers often overlook once-weekly dramas because the slow pacing disrupts immersion, leading to a preference for binge-watching. To counter this, “Family by Choice” aims to enhance engagement by airing 2 episodes back-to-back.
During the production presentation, director Kim Seung-ho noted, “Given the everyday nature of the story, I thought it would be nice to watch consecutive episodes on Wednesdays. This allows us to show viewers the next part of the story more quickly.”
In its first week, “Family by Choice” achieved ratings of 2.1% for the first episode and 2.2% for the second. While these figures aren’t bad for JTBC dramas this year, they still fall short of expectations. As of the 11th, the show ranked 9th on Tving but did not make Netflix’s top 10, which is disappointing given its target audience.
The show has limited rebroadcasts, airing only three times on Saturdays, with two slots in late night and one in the afternoon at 3:40 PM.
For a once-weekly drama, a lack of word-of-mouth buzz hinders chances for rating recovery. With its gentle coming-of-age story, “Family by Choice” faces tough competition from stronger genre dramas, making its future appear uncertain.
Source: Naver