The tvN romance series "Lovely Runner," which aired its last episode May 28, has taken not only Korea but also the world by storm. The show, topping the charts in 130 countries on the global streaming platform Rakuten Viki, also made history in the Korean streaming services sector. On the day of the series finale, Tving, the exclusive domestic streaming platform for "Lovely Runner," surpassed Netflix in daily viewing hours for the first time.
According to Mobile Index, Tving's total viewing hour logged 2,500,010 hours on May 28, surpassing Netflix (2,408,179 hours) by 91,831 hours. This marks the first instance in Korea where Netflix, the nation's most-watched streaming service excluding YouTube, has been surpassed in terms of daily total viewing time. Basking in the immense popularity of the series, the series' lead actors have risen to prominence.
Byeon Woo-seok, the male protagonist, now enjoys a rock-star status, with tickets to his fan meetings priced at 77,000 won ($56), selling out and scalped tickets fetching 45 times their original value. The success of "Lovely Runner" came as a surprise for several reasons: It aired on Mondays and Tuesdays, days which are traditionally associated with lower viewership ratings. Also, the series cast relatively lesser-known actors in the lead roles, Byeon and Kim Hye-yoon.
In a recent interview, Byeon attributed the soaring popularity of "Lovely Runner" to its aesthetic mise-en-scenes and a plot that fulfills the fantasies of its targ.