There is a very comprehensive and in depth Nate news article (here) going into detail with hard numbers on why the breadth and scope of the failure of space romance K-drama When the Stars Gossip will have “heads will roll” and “things must change” type ramifications across the industry. So let’s get to it as I explain the highlights of this article (my comments in italics) on what the failures are with the drama: (1) Stars is the first tvN weekend drama in 6-years to hit 1% ratings since Melting Me Softly, (2) it’s also fallen of the Netflix top 10 by the second week of streaming, (3) none of the uploaded videos to tvN’s Youtube channel have over 100K views, (4) the production started at 10 billion won and went up to 50 billion won with Lee Min Ho and Gong Hyo Jin’s salaries and will end between 60-70 billion won after post-production work and special effects, (5) initially it was aimed to be a Netflix original but Netflix refused, then tvN held it back waiting for Mainland China to lift the ban on Korean entertainment believing Lee Min Ho was super popular there, but in the end tvN couldn’t wait any longer, (6) the premise of an OB/GYN going to space to artificially inseminate the lazy sperm left by the dead son of a chaebol (hahahah, even writing this out is lolz) was far-fetched, (7) despite being billed as a romance, the chemistry between the lead doctor and space commander was not good and their emotional line was not relatable (to any human) and the bed scene at the end of episode 8 was not touching and instead bizarre with old-fashioned CGI special effects (double lolz), (8) supporting characters did not have good story lines and many feel miscast, (9) the directing was choppy and would transition suddenly like being cut off, (10) this will be a big stain for both leads – Lee Min Ho for having a series of dramas not do as well in ratings as expected for an actor of his level, other than good reviews for Pachinko, and Gong Hyo Jin finally getting called out for acting the same way every time, this time even more obvious and blatant.
CJ E&M is also struggling, last year despite the success of Queen of Tears it ended the year in the red due to Jeongnyeon: A Star is Born – Kim Tae Ri‘s salary was too high, equal to Kim Soo Hyun for QoT, but that drama made 54 billion won in revenue/profit whereas Jeongnyeon did not make a profit. The drama got strong domestic ratings and reviews but poor overseas viewership on Disney+ and overseas is where K-dramas expect to make their money back. This news article ends by saying going forward, tvN will return to the Wed-Thurs time slot and hope to produce more dramas but each at a lower budget so it can sell more CFs due to increased time slots but not be hampered by huge budgets. Due to the changes in the industry landscape, the only thing the production companies can do is manage and contain production costs and that will be the top directive this year and beyond. Last few years as costs on productions sky rocketed, it ended up being a double-edged sword as only Netflix could afford to pay the prices needed to sell the drama at a profit for the production. By lowering costs, the productions hope it will once again expand the pool of potential buyers for the dramas and everyone can benefit from it.
