K-Drama Hits Historic Low of 0% Viewership, Breaking Records for Lowest Ever Ratings

2025-03-13 16:11

A Korean Drama Faces Major Viewership Failure with Consecutive 0% Ratings, Reaching a New Low in Broadcast History

Currently airing, the 12-episode KBS2 drama has suffered a five-episode streak of 0% viewership ratings, leading to a massive failure in terms of popularity. With only two episodes remaining, the drama has now set a new record for the lowest viewership ratings in the history of Korean broadcast dramas.

KBS2 'Kick Kick Kick Kick' Scene. / Courtesy of KBS Drama YouTube

The drama in question is 'Kick Kick Kick Kick' (written by Jeong Soo-hyun, Nam Eun-gyeong, Jeong Hae-young, directed by Go Seung-joon), starring Ji Jin-hee. The show began its run on February 5 with an opening rating of 2.1% but quickly plummeted. By episode 2, the rating dropped to 1.0%, and it continued to fall in subsequent episodes, reaching 0.3% by episode 10 on March 6. Despite a slight rise in viewership with episode 5 (1.0%), it failed to recover and ended up breaking records for the lowest-ever broadcast ratings.

Reports, including those from Ten Asia, confirm that 0.3% marks not only the drama’s all-time low but also the lowest-ever ratings for any Korean broadcast drama. KBS had previously seen 0% ratings with other dramas like ‘Eoseowa’ (0.8%) in 2020 and ‘Going to You at 493km’ (0.9%) in 2022, but ‘Kick Kick Kick Kick’ has now cemented itself as the lowest-rated KBS drama in history.

Kick Kick Kick Kick Poster. / Courtesy of KBS

The show was an attempt to break from the traditional KBS Wednesday-Thursday drama format by adopting a sitcom-style narrative. Featuring a comedic office drama with Ji Jin-hee and former star producer Jo Young-sik, the series aimed to provide a lighthearted, fun experience for viewers. However, the exaggerated characters and lack of relatable emotional depth ultimately failed to resonate with audiences. Despite Ji Jin-hee's return to terrestrial television after nine years and his attempt at comedic acting, the series struggled with low engagement. In response to the dwindling ratings, KBS moved the show to a later time slot at 10:50 PM, but this only resulted in further decline.

The positive intentions behind KBS’s attempt to try a sitcom format were overshadowed by the lack of relatable elements for viewers. Most of the characters, including Ji Jin-hee’s, were overly exaggerated, and the focus on comedic elements left the show lacking in emotional connection and realistic portrayals. In contrast, Ji Jin-hee's previous work, ‘Miss Granny’, managed to blend realism and fantasy, leading to greater success.

As of now, with only two episodes left, the question remains whether the drama will be able to pull off an unexpected viewership surge or sink even lower into its all-time low. Viewer comments have varied, with some expressing disappointment: “It started off fun, but it's really disappointing now. A bit more fine-tuning could have helped,” while others simply offered their support to Ji Jin-hee, saying, “I’m rooting for Ji Jin-hee, but the competition is too harsh.”

With ‘Kick Kick Kick Kick’ facing unexpected failure, KBS’s next sitcom, ‘Villain’s Country’, which will air starting on the 19th, has now become a highly anticipated follow-up. This new sitcom will feature stars like Oh Na-ra, So You-jin, Song Jin-woo, and Park Young-kyu, and is set to broadcast at 9:50 PM.