[Courtesy of SBS Now YouTube Channel]
Lee Min-ho and Jun Ji-hyun, the iconic stars leading "Hallyu" (Korean cultural wave), demonstrated their celebrity power, attracting massive viewership on the first airing of their new TV drama.
The SBS drama "The Legend of the Blue Sea" posted 16.4 percent in its viewership rating on the first day of airing Wednesday, according to Nielson Korea, a viewership research company. The performance is exceptional as other TV dramas starring top stars find hard to exceed 10 percent.
The new drama dominated Wednesday's drama scene, compared to 5.9 percent recorded by KBS' "My Fair Lady" and 3.3 percent by MBC's "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-ju".
Even before its release, fans from South Korea and China have built up expectations on the drama because of the two top stars. Producers have already sold licenses to over ten countries for an estimated total of ten billion won (8.5 million US dollars).
The drama was based on a Korean fable in the early 17th century about a fisherman's encounter with mermaids. The story is adapted to a modern format with Lee playing the main role as a con artist and Jun the role of the last remaining mermaid.
Aju News Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
