Ji Sung's Connection climbs high on buzzworthy K-drama chart; Hierarchy wins Netflix audiences on Global Top 10

The “Kill Me, Heal Me” star Ji Sung made his smashing comeback with the new psychological crime thriller “Connection” this May on SBS. With tvN's “Lovely Runner” and “Queen of Tears” fever gradually fading out from South Korean broadcasting networks, other ongoing underrated series are making small leaps on the weekly K-drama ranking charts. Ji Sung's SBS drama is one such title holding the audience's attention, and the buzzworthy K-drama chart for the second week of June reflects its glowing growth on both local networks and the OTT space.

About Ji Sung's drama, Connection

Streaming on Wavve and Coupang Play in South Korea, Vidio in Indonesia, Kocowa in the Americas and Viki in select regions, the investigative TV series centres around the ace detective from the narcotics teams, played by Ji Sung, who ends up drowning himself in drug addiction. Eventually, the protagonist is consumed by an emerging murder mystery surrounding his friend. Once he returns to the overwhelming world of thrilling investigation, he finds himself unravelling a 20-year-old friendship and unlikely connection.

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As of June 18, Good Data Corporation's latest readings revealed that the renowned actor's show is topping both the TV and TV-OTT categories on the “buzzworthiness” chart. While it gained a 17.05% score in the former, it secured 13.49% buzzworthiness in the latter list. Meanwhile, the leading actor himself ranked fourth on the most buzzworthy performers (actors/actresses) chart this past week, with his co-star Jeon Mi Do rounding out the Top 10 chart.

As for new additions to the list, JTBC's “My Sweet Mobster” and “Miss Night and Day” earned their top-ranking debuts on the chart.

OTT titles winning big on weekly charts

On the OTT side of the competition, “Hierarchy” and “The 8 Show” again maintained their power on the list. Despite all episodes of the latter premiere releasing simultaneously in May, it's still holding strong months later.

“Hierarchy,” the supposed Korean version of the Spanish drama “Elite,” claimed the fifth rank on the TV-OTT chart of Good Data Corp's buzzworthiness “Fundex.” However, its original streaming platform, Netflix, accorded it with unmatchable regard, as the series completed its second consecutive week in the Global Top 10 non-English TV category. From June 10-16 alone, the Netflix K-drama raked in 6.3 million views, securing the top rank on the list. Similarly, “The 8 Show” continued its 5-week streak on Netflix's non-English TV Top 10 chart at 6th place, attracting 900,000 views this past week.

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Even though both “Queen of Tears” and “The Atypical Family” slipped out of the South Korean buzzworthy chart, which only ranks upcoming or ongoing shows, Netflix again credited them with cushioned seats on the Global Top 10 list. The Kim Soo Hyun-Kim Ji Won starrer rom-com continued breaking records with its long-running spell of 15 consecutive weeks on this OTT chart (700,000 views from June 10-16). On the other hand, “The Atypical Family” came back for its sixth week, making way for 1.7 million views.

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