Studio Dragon’s Hit Drama ‘Marry My Husband’ Smashes Ratings Expectations Domestically and Worldwide
New Drama Series Breaks tvN’s Viewership Records for Mondays and Tuesdays
The drama “Marry My Husband” from the premium storyteller group Studio Dragon, a subsidiary of CJ ENM, has won over Korean and international audiences to become a triple triumph across various platforms. According to Nielsen Korea, it commanded a leading viewership on traditional broadcast network tvN, breaking records for average viewership in its time slot. Likewise, the drama attracted a major following on streaming service TVING, with more paid subscribers tuning in than to any other tvN content on the platform.
The show also smashed expectations on Amazon Prime Video, becoming the first Korean drama to grab the top spot in its global daily TV show rankings, based on ratings tracker FlixPatrol. While original K-dramas made for streaming services have seen their share of success, rarely has a popular network drama also become a global streaming smash hit.
“Marry My Husband” Sets New Record with 1.05 Billion Views
Even before its premiere, the hype for “Marry My Husband” was building to a critical mass. Promotional media focused on Park Min-young’s remarkable transformation, and sneak peeks sought to replicate the enthusiasm for “EXchange,” another hit show on TVING. Content on tvN’s social media eventually surpassed 1.05 billion views, setting a new benchmark for online traffic surrounding a single intellectual property in the category of Korean dramas.
The premiere itself capitalized on the hype, reaching an average viewership of 5.2% nationwide in Korea. Viewership climbed steadily throughout the season’s broadcast, averaging 9.2% overall. In addition to breaking previous records for its time slot, “Marry My Husband” also attracted the highest viewership among male and female teenagers in two years.
With “Wedding Impossible” taking over the time slot of “Marry My Husband,” and the release of new drama “Queen of Tears,” tvN is poised to keep the momentum going with more captivating content for viewers to enjoy.
The First K-drama to Rank No. 1 Globally on Amazon Prime Video
“Marry My Husband” not only became TVING’s most-watched tvN entertainment program with over 2 billion minutes viewed but also saw a 1,000% increase in TVING’s paid subscribers. The drama’s resonation with international audiences exceeded all expectations. Thanks to its global availability on Amazon Prime Video, it became the first K-drama to top the daily rankings chart, reaching No. 1 a total of four times, and has continued to chart high even after the show’s conclusion. For the month of January, the show reached No. 2 in Amazon Prime Video’s global monthly rankings. The drama gained attention not just across Asia, where K-dramas have long seen popularity, but also across Europe and the Americas. It made the daily rankings chart 73 times in dozens of countries, peaking at No. 3 in the U.K., No. 2 in the U.S. and France, and No. 1 in Canada. Studio Dragon sees this as an opportunity to further broaden its global reach with more international collaborations in the future.
“It’s rare for K-content to excel across multiple broadcast platforms, as well as both domestically and overseas,” said a representative from CJ ENM. “The success of ‘Marry My Husband’ was made possible through the collaboration of CJ ENM’s tvN network and its affiliates Studio Dragon and TVING. A prime example of integrated marketing, production and distribution, these coordinated efforts proved crucial to the show’s achievements.”
