ANN/THE KOREA HERALD – Queen of Tears, the popular South Korean romance drama series, maintains its impressive streaming momentum, buoyed by its enthusiastic global fanbase, according to the entertainment powerhouse SCJ ENM recently.
During the final week of April, Queen of Tears secured the second spot on Netflix’s list of top non-English-language TV shows, climbing one rank compared to the previous week.
Netflix determines these rankings by dividing the total hours viewed by the total runtime.
This achievement marks the drama’s eighth consecutive week in the top 10 for its category, underscoring its enduring popularity and widespread appeal.
In addition to its popularity on the streaming platform, the series also set a record on television. The final episode of Queen of Tears became the most-watched episode ever aired by tvN, the series’ broadcaster, surpassing the viewership of episodes from tvN’s other hit series such as Crash Landing on You (2020) and Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2017).
According to tvN, the final episode of Queen of Tears logged an average viewership rating of 28.4 per cent in the Seoul metropolitan area and 24.9 per cent nationwide.
“Since (the drama series’) release on March 9, the accumulated viewing time for the show (on Netflix) has reached 373.2 million hours in total, bringing it close to surpassing the milestone of 400 million hours (in accumulated viewing time).
Despite the drama series concluding its broadcast (on Korean television channels), there is still considerable expectation for the continued viewing (of Queen of Tears) on both domestic and international streaming platforms,” said an official from CJ ENM via a press release.
Queen of Tears, won praise from fans for its exploration of themes such as love and loss, as well as the sincere performances delivered by its actors.
Queen of Tears recorded 94 per cent and 8.4 out of 10 in viewership ratings in the global online review platforms Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb.
Additionally, in Filmarks, the largest review site in Japan, Queen of Tears logged 4.5 out of five in viewership ratings.
Penned by star screenwriter Park Ji-eun, whose previous works such as Crash Landing on You and My Love From the Star“have earned her global recognition, the 16-part drama series stars Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Ji-won as a married couple who lost their spark and are heading for a divorce.