Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-kyung starrer Dr. Romantic 3 clocked 13.5 percent rating for its third episode. The ratings were determined by Nielsen Korea, a system which quantitatively measures television rating points, data and analytics both in Seoul (metropolitan region) and South Korea (nationwide ratings) to determine which TV program was the most watched show by Korean citizens in the country.
Dr Romantic also known as Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim (the literal meaning of the Korean title) is one of the most loved and watched medical-romance South Korean series and franchises. The series centers around Kim Sabu or Doctor Kim played by Han Suk-kyu an eccentric and genius doctor who left a thriving medical career to move to a small town and groom young and hopeful doctors at the rundown Doldam Hospital.
The series first premiered in 2016 and starred Yoo Yeon-seok and Seo Hyun-jin in the lead roles. The first season was a runaway success and that prompted the makers to launch a second season retaining Han Suk-kyu and launching a brand new story with Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-kyung in the lead roles.
The Dr Romantic franchise for a third time in 2023 with Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-kyung reprising their roles yet again.
Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-kyung’s Dr Romantic 3 was the most-watched mini-series this week
Dr Romantic 3 was placed first in its time slot across all channels in its third episode itself, the most-watched program of the entire day. Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-kyung’s drama scored an average nationwide rating of 13.5 percent for the night. Dr Romantic 3 also boasts of 2049 audience rating that denotes the network’s (SBS in this case) competitiveness.
Additionally, it was also the most-watched fictional TV program on Friday earning an average rating of 5.1 percent for its latest broadcast, especially among the key demographic of viewers ages 20 to 49 years. All the above factors made it the most-watched miniseries to air this week.
There was noticeable excitement among Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-kyung’s fans who were happy that the third installment of Dr Romantic conjured good ratings in the third episode itself.
Dr Romantic 3 has already attained double-digit ratings and it's only the third episode of the series.
Previously, in a radio interaction for the show’s promotions, Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-kyung declared that if Dr Romantic 3 attains 15 percent ratings, the actors will perform a dance cover of girl group New Jeans’ popular song Hype Boy.
Fans are hopeful that by the end of the show’s completion, they will get to watch a special dance performance to NewJeans’ Hype Boy.
Dr Romantic 3 is facing stiff competition from MBC’s Joseon Attorney which airs in the same slot on a rival network. Notably, Joseon Attorney raked in a nationwide average of 3.6 percent for its latest episode.
Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-kyung’s Dr Romantic 3: A brief review so far
Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Sung-kyung reunited three years after starring in the previous installment of Dr Romantic. The actors play the characters of Dr Seo Woo-jin (Ahn Hyo-seop) and Cha Eun-jae (Lee Sung-kyung) in the series and reprised their roles in this season as well.
Fans may remember that Seo Woo-jin and Cha Eun-jae profess their love for each other in the final episode of season 2. In the new installment, fans can see the 'Reset Couple' (Seo Woo-jin and Cha Eun-jae) romance going strong while the Doldam Team of doctors led by Dr Kim Sabu are solving complicated medical cases where they must choose between their morals and the practice of medicine.
In the third episode, Dr Kim Sabu and Cha Jin-ma played by Lee Kyung-young got into a disagreement over a surgery that could save the ski jumping team's life. Eventually, Seo Woo-jin and Cha Eun-jae were withdrawn and the surgical results of the ski jumping national team was made a priority for Dr Kim Sabu.
Dr Romantic 3 airs every Friday and Saturday at 10 pm KST on SBS replacing Taxi Driver season 2 which used to air previously at the 10 pm timeslot.