‘Moonlight Drawn by Clouds’ Tops Viewership Ratings and Beats ‘Scarlet Heart: Ryeo’ (Moon Lovers)
The Korean drama 'Moonlight Drawn by Clouds' (Moonlight) has taken the lead over 'Scarlet Heart: Ryeo' (Moon Lovers) based on the viewership ratings on Monday.
According to ratings report from Nielsen Korea, the KBS2 TV drama 'Moonlight' recorded a 16.0% nationwide viewership, taking the first place lead. This was approximately doubled its ratings from the previous week which was at 8.5%. Moonlight not only set its own viewership record but also became the champion of the Monday night ratings war.
Meanwhile, the SBS drama Scarlet Heart: Ryeo (aka Moon Lovers) premiered the first two episodes on the same night, starting off with 7.4% nationwide ratings and the second episode recording a minor increase with 9.3%. On the other hand, MBC drama Monster recorded a rating of 10%.
'Moonlight Drawn by Clouds' is about the story of Hong Ra-On (Kim Yoo Jung), who disguises herself as a man and counsels men on dating. Due to a love letter she wrote for a client, she meets Crown Prince Hyomyeong (Park Bo-Gum). Hong Ra-On is unaware that he is the Crown Prince and Hyomyeong is unaware that Hong Ra-On is a woman. The Crown Prince becomes interested in Hong Ra-On. His eunuchs become aware of this and attempt to get Hong Ra-On to become one of them.
While 'Scarlet Heart: Ryeo' (Moon Lovers) is an adaptation from a Chinese drama. The story is set up in the early of Goryeo regime. When a total eclipse of the sun takes place, Hae-Soo (IU) travels back in time to the Goryeo era. There, she falls in love with Wang So (Lee Joon-Gi) who makes other people tremble with fear. Hae Soo, a 25 year old girl from modern era got transported back to Goryeo dynasty and got trapped in the conflicts and struggles between princes of Wang's House.
Moonlight and Scarlet Heart: Ryeo are both historical dramas that are composed of popular actors and actresses. The two shows were named by K-drama fans to be competitor shows. It both recruited top stars in their casting lineup. However, Moonlight's current success might be too early to be determined as both dramas still have 15 more episode broadcasts to compete with each other.
