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K-Drama Queen of Tears Smashes Local and Global Records

Queen of Tears is dominating local and global series charts, outdoing popular K-dramas like Reply 1988. By Ching Wai.

South Korea - Released in March 2024, the new South Korean romantic comedy drama series Queen of Tears has already secured its place as one of the most viewed dramas on tvN, and the top non-English show on Netflix.

Queen of Tears has surpassed popular shows like Reply 1988 and Mr Sunshine on South Korean charts. The K-drama achieved an average viewership rating of 19% nationwide, ranking third in the all-time highest rated tvN drama just after Crash Landing on You and Goblin. The drama has reportedly broken its own highest viewership ratings for five consecutive weeks in Seoul and across the nation, ranking first on all channels, including terrestrial channels.

Internationally, Queen of Tears achieved about 4.3 million views on Netflix this past week, securing the top position as the most-watched non-English show on the streaming platform. However, the drama’s success did not only come after its premier - the producer of Queen of Tears had shared that the drama had earned enough money to cover all production costs even before broadcast.

This is possible due to the profit structure of the K-drama industry, in which production companies in Korea can recover a portion of production costs from broadcast fees, indirect advertising profits, sponsorships, and OSTs even before the drama airs. Queen of Tears’ revenue from broadcast fees is estimated to amount to 30 billion won (~22 million USD), or about 50% of production cost. On top of this, considering previous rates paid by Netflix, Queen of Tears is estimated to have at least 70% of production costs covered by the streaming media company, allowing the production to break-even even before its broadcast.

The original series concluded on 28 April, but fans can look forward to 4 and 5 May when two special episodes are set to air on tvN. These episodes will reportedly have fresh plot developments that will give the drama a proper closure, unlike the usual recap or behind-the-scenes specials.

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