K-Drama Stars Byun Woo Seok & IU at '21st Century Prince' Press Event

MBC's Friday-Saturday drama '21st Century Grand Prince's Wife,' starring IU and Byun Woo-seok, made a strong debut, recording viewership ratings in the 7% range from its first broadcast. According to Nielsen Korea on the 11th, the first episode of '21st Century Grand Prince's Wife,' which aired on the 10th, recorded a nationwide household viewership rating of 7.8%. This is the third-highest first broadcast viewership rating in MBC's Friday-Saturday drama history, following 'Chief Detective 1958' (10.1%) in first place and 'Flower Blooms at Night' (7.9%) in second. The gap with the second-place drama is only 0.1%p.

This is even more noteworthy considering the unfavorable conditions, as the previous drama, 'Your Radiant Season,' ended with a final episode viewership rating of 3.1%. Compared to 'Judge Lee Han-young,' which holds MBC drama's highest viewership rating (peak 13.6%), its first episode rating was only 4.3%, confirming the high expectations viewers had for '21st Century Grand Prince's Wife.'

The atmosphere before the broadcast was also unusual. Two weeks before the first episode, it ranked first in TV-OTT drama buzzworthiness according to Good Data Corporation's Findex. This was the first time a drama that had not yet begun airing ranked first overall in buzzworthiness since the survey began. It also achieved a sell-out of advertisements, receiving explosive expectations even before its broadcast, which directly translated into viewership ratings.

The script was written by Yoo Ji-won, and the directing was handled by Park Joon-hwa and Bae Hee-young. Director Park Joon-hwa has previously directed works such as 'Because This Is My First Life,' the 'Alchemy of Souls' series, and 'What's Wrong with Secretary Kim.'

'21st Century Grand Prince's Wife' depicts a class-defying romance set in a constitutional monarchy Republic of Korea, between a chaebol woman (IU) who has everything but is of commoner status, and a man (Byun Woo-seok) who is the son of a king but can possess nothing. The drama is a 12-episode series and will be available on OTT platforms Wavve and Disney+. The second episode will air on the 11th at 9:40 PM.