“Queen of Tears” global popularity is also crazy “Rank first in 25 countries”
tvN's Saturday-Sunday drama "Queen of Tears" has been recorded as a globally successful hit of unprecedented magnitude
“Queen of Tears” depicts the dizzying crisis and miraculous rekindling of love between Hong Hae-in (played by Kim Ji-won), a third-generation chaebol heiress of Queens Group, and Baek Hyun-woo (played by Kim Soo-hyun), the son of farmers from Yongdu-ri, and their three years of marriage. It concluded with its 16th episode broadcasted on April 28th.
# Surpassing “Crash Landing on You” in Ratings
“Queen of Tears” achieved a final rating of 24.9%, surpassing “Crash Landing on You“‘s 21.7% and setting a new record as the highest-rated tvN drama ever. Analyzing the viewership trends over the two months of its airing reveals a steeper rise compared to “Crash Landing on You”, which was a blockbuster hit.
Both dramas started with similar ratings in their first episodes, 6.1% for “Crash Landing on You” and 5.9% for “Queen of Tears”. However, “Queen of Tears” broke the 10% barrier in its 4th episode with a rating of 13%, while “Crash Landing on You” achieved this in its 8th episode with an 11.3% rating. The number of episodes with an average rating of over 10% was 13 for “Queen of Tears” and 9 for “Crash Landing on You”, with episodes surpassing 20% being 5 for “Queen of Tears” and 1 for “Crash Landing on You”. (Based on cable, IPTV and satellite integrated paid platforms/Provided by Nielsen Korea)
“Queen of Tears” maintained a steady increase in ratings for 8 consecutive weeks without a single decline, similar to “Crash Landing on You”. (Excluding special broadcasts)
# Unprecedented Buzz Beyond Ratings
According to the FUNdex survey conducted by Good Data Corporation, a specialized institution in analyzing K-content competitiveness, “Queen of Tears” ranked 2nd in terms of buzz among dramas in the past 10 years (2015-2024), following “Descendants of the Sun”.
Thanks to the drama’s buzz, cast members Kim Soo-hyun (as Baek Hyun-woo) and Kim Ji-won (as Hong Hae-in), as well as Park Sung-hoon (as Yoon Eun-sung), Kwak Dong-yeon (as Hong Soo-cheol), Lee Joo-bin (as Cheon Da-hye), Kim Kap-soo (as Hong Man-dae), Lee Mi-sook (as Moh Seul-hee), Kim Jung-nan (as Hong Beom-ja), and special guest Song Joong-ki (as Vincenzo), all made it into the top 10 in terms of actor buzz rankings.
“Queen of Tears” topped the list of “Koreans’ Favorite TV Programs” surveyed by Gallup Korea for both March and April, and the cumulative video views related to the drama exceeded 1.5 billion.
# Unmatched Global Viewership Power
“Queen of Tears” recorded a cumulative viewing time of 373.2 million hours on Netflix as of its conclusion. Compared to last year’s top-ranking “The Night Agent: Season 1”, which recorded 812.1 million hours (from March 23rd, 2023 to June 30th, 2023), and the second-ranking “Ginny & Georgia: Season 2”, which recorded 665.1 million hours (from January 5th, 2023 to June 30th, 2023), “Queen of Tears” achieved remarkable viewership in just 2 months, joining the ranks of Netflix’s hit dramas. Although the domestic airing has ended, the sustained global popularity suggests continued growth in viewership in the future.
According to FlixPatrol, an OTT ranking service platform, “Queen of Tears” entered the Netflix Top 10 in 69 countries, including English and non-English content, and ranked first in a total of 25 countries.
