Korean historical dramas shine as evergreen content for TV broadcasters

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Korean historical dramas shine as evergreen content for TV broadcasters

Published: 05 Mar. 2024, 17:17 Updated: 05 Mar. 2024, 19:32

KIM JU-YEON
kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr

MBC's historical drama ″Knight Flower″ is a story about a widow who conceals her identity and helps those in need. [MBC]

Historical dramas — from the romantic to the tragic and the fantastical to the historically accurate — are a lasting glimmer of hope for Korean network television.

Korean TV broadcasters’ long legacies and expertise in the historical drama genre have given them a competitive edge for their productions despite the now overcrowded media platform market.

Take, for instance, MBC’s historical drama series “Knight Flower,” which aired from Jan. 12 to Feb. 17.

“Knight Flower” follows the double life led by protagonist Cho Yeo-hwa, played by Lee Ha-nee. Cho’s betrothed dies on their wedding day. Instead of following the Joseon Dynasty custom, in which widows were expected to grieve their husbands’ deaths at home in mourning clothes, the protagonist instead steals outside at night while wearing a mask that conceals her identity. Cho helps people in need and lives a life for herself instead of conforming to what was expected of a wife or a daughter-in-law at the time.

The 12-episode drama series surpassed 10 percent in viewer ratings by its third episode, according to media data tracker Nielsen Korea. The final episode reached 18.4 percent, making it the highest-rated Friday-Saturday drama in MBC history.

KBS's 32-episode historical epic ″Korea-Khitan War,″ produced in commemoration of the broadcaster's 50th anniversary, is airing on channel KBS2. [KBS]

In the 24th episode of KBS’s historical epic “Korea-Khitan War,” a 32-episode series, the story takes a turn when high-ranking soldiers opposing the Goryeo royal family plot treason against them. This episode at one point reached 10.9 percent in viewership. The drama series, which amassed attention for its realistic portrayal of the two wars Goryeo waged against the Khitan-led Liao dynasty’s invasion, continued to stay around 10 percent.

From classic historical dramas to alternative historical dramas fused with action and romance, the genre can be found on a variety of mediums now, broadcast on Korea’s major network television channels and on cable television channel tvN.

The recently completed Friday-Saturday drama series “Knight Flower,” along with Saturday-Sunday series “Korea-Khitan War” and tvN’s “Captivating the King” all aired at similar times in the day, during primetime. During these times when fewer drama series are being produced and scheduled for regular TV broadcasting, each broadcasting company seems to be pooling their efforts in historical dramas.

Drama series ″Captivating the King″ depicts the romance between a fictional Joseon dynasty emperor, played by Jo Jung-suk, and a spy, played by Shin Se-kyung. [TVN]

The inclination to invest in historical dramas has been especially prominent among over-the-air TV broadcasters such as KBS, MBC and SBS.

Following the success of historical drama “My Dearest” last year, MBC released series “The Story of Park's Marriage Contract” (2023) and “Knight Flowers” one after another — meaning MBC’s Friday-Saturday drama series spot, which is MBC’s only drama airtime apart from its soap opera series, was continually filled by historical dramas.

KBS, which has been airing “Korea-Khitan War” since November, also released multiple historical fiction dramas over the same period. Its Monday-Tuesday drama “The Matchmakers” (2023) ended in December last year, and its successor, fantasy historical drama “Love Song for Illusion,” ended Feb. 27.

Thirty-two drama series aired on Korea’s three major national networks — 14 on KBS and nine each on MBC and SBS — last year, according to the Korea Drama Production Association. This is 20 percent less than the 40 series that aired in 2022.

“On terrestrial TV networks, where drama series are increasingly disappearing over the week, broadcasters have to choose pieces with less risk attached to them,” culture critic Jeong Deok-hyun said. “This is why full-power stations continue to choose historical dramas, in which they have a lot of experience and the upper hand.”

TV broadcasting companies have built up sizeable production expertise and infrastructure through decades of producing period dramas. Some notable examples include KBS’s “Tears of the Dragon” (1996), “Emperor Wang Gun” (2000), “Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-sin” (2004) and “Dae Jo-yeong” (2006); MBC’s “Hur Jun” (1999), “Dae Jang Geum” (2003), “Jumong” (2006) and “Queen Seondeok” (2009); and SBS’s “Deep Rooted Tree” (2011).

“KBS has historically created a lot of period dramas in a variety of genres such as ‘Korean Ghost Stories,’” KBS chief producer Kim Sang-hee, who has produced dramas at KBS for 28 years, said.

“Period dramas require not only expertise for production sets but also for makeup, costumes and props by the design team, and we have the professional workforce that can make it happen. We also have a well-established academic network that we can consult with, through our educative programs such as ‘The Day, History Journal.’”

MBC owns a backlot for period dramas in Yongin, Gyeonggi, the only domestic broadcaster to have one. The set is useful when shooting productions with settings in time periods spanning the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties, allowing producers to cut down on time and costs related to finding shooting locations.

Jang Tae-yoo, who produced SBS historical dramas “Painter of the Wind” (2008) and “Deep Rooted Tree,” expressed his satisfaction with utilizing the set while filming “Knight Flower.”

“We filmed [the series] at the Yongin set, and I thought it was the optimal location to make historical dramas,” he said.

The last episode of drama series ″My Dearest″ (2023) reached 12.9 percent in viewership ratings. [MBC]

Historical dramas these days evoke empathy among viewers through their intersections of the past and present.

“Period dramas make use of historical facts while simultaneously showing why this story must be told in the present,” culture critic Jeong said. “The genre has a wide audience as it is familiar to the older generation and allows the younger generation to interpret current stories through a historical framework.”

Executive producer Namkoong Seon-woo, who oversaw the production of “Knight Flower,” said, “Widows in the Joseon Dynasty were nonexistent; they could die and no one would bat an eye.”

“It was a huge taboo for widows to even cross the wall that surrounded the separate house [they lived in]. The character’s struggle to break the taboo and live an independent life as a woman is what I think the viewers highly rated.”

“The younger generation’s surprised reaction to seeing women living like that in the Joseon Dynasty was something I didn’t expect, but I think [the series] is meaningful in that it evoked an interest in history,” he added.

“It is encouraging that recent network television period dramas have been received well both commercially and critically,” another drama producer at a terrestrial broadcasting company said. “In an age with diverse media platforms including online streaming services, it has been proven that historical dramas are what traditional TV broadcasters do best; and as such, the trend of them producing historical dramas will continue.”

″Korea-Khitan War" is globally available for streaming on Netflix. [KBS]

Unlike those from network television, period dramas made for online streaming platforms have not been doing so well. In the case of Netflix Korea, which produced its highest number of original series ever last year, only two of the 14 productions were historical dramas.

“Song of the Bandits” (2023), a historical drama that was released right before the Chuseok harvest holidays around October last year, didn’t see as much success as other Chuseok hits like “Squid Game” (2021) and “Narco-Saints” (2022). “Gyeongseong Creature” (2023), another historical piece that took 70 billion won ($52.6 million) to make, received mixed reviews.

“Historical dramas are not an easy genre to cater to the global audience as they have to be watched with some extent of knowledge on a specific time era or cultural background,” KBS chief producer Kim said, adding, “Netflix is streaming ‘Korea-Khitan War’ globally, and as the response from China and Southeast Asia is pretty good, I heard they’re considering a large-scale historical action drama targeting Asian viewers.”

“Historical dramas that show off Korean elements such as gat [traditional male hats] and hanbok [traditional Korean clothes] are high in demand, at a level on par with other K-content,” cultural critic Kim Sung-soo said. “Should producers knowledgeable in our history work in diverse productions [that cross over multiple platforms], I think the globalization of historical dramas is definitely possible.”

BY EO HWAN-HEE [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]