IU‘s Hotel del Luna has smashed the TV ratings record of Song Joong-ki’s Arthdal Chronicles when it premiered Saturday night on tvN, becoming the highest-rated cable drama so far in 2019 as far as first episode is concerned.

The new fantasy drama obtained a nationwide TV rating of 7.3 percent for its first episode, which surpassed Arthdal Chronicles‘ counterpart record of 6.7 percent and became the highest rating in cable/pay TV platforms on July 13. It now ranks as the no. 1 2019 cable drama in terms of first episode rating, being followed by Arthdal Chronicles, The Crowned Clown (5.7%), Touch Your Heart (4.7%), and Confession (4.6%).

As of July 14, 2019.

In Seoul area, Hotel del Luna recorded a 7.7 percent rating.

Hotel del Luna is a fantasy romance drama about the CEO and manager of the titular hotel which only caters to ghosts. Singer-actress IU (aka Lee Ji-eun), who previously starred in the Baeksang award-winning drama My Mister, is playing the role of Jang Man-wol, the CEO of Hotel del Luna who has been condemned to spend the rest of her life at the hotel as punishment for her sins.

Starring opposite IU is Yeo Jin-goo who is starring in the ongoing robot drama My Absolute Boyfriend. He is portraying the role of the gullible and weak-hearted Koo Chan-sung, an award-winning hotelier who ends up working at the mysterious hotel despite having graduated from Harvard Business School and received job offers from three of the world’s top 100 hotels.

Hotel del Luna is the third Korean drama of Yeo Jin-goo this year as he also starred in the historical series The Crowned Clown, which is currently the highest-rated 2019 cable drama based on average TV ratings. The young actor was able to appear in more than two dramas within six months because My Absolute Boyfriend was completely pre-produced. The Crowned Clown and My Absolute Boyfriend premiered in January and May, respectively, but Yeo Jin-goo already completed filming for the latter even before he started shooting for the former.

The main cast of Hotel del Luna is rounded out by Shin Jung-geun, Bae Hae-sun, and K-pop stars P.O and Mina.

One of the 17 new Korean dramas in July, Hotel del Luna is the latest project of the famed Hong Sisters—who are known for penning the scripts of A Korean Odyssey, Master’s Sun, and My Girlfriend is a Gumiho—and PD Oh Choong-hwan of hit dramas While You Were Sleeping and My Love From The Star. It airs every Saturday and Sunday at 9 p.m. Korean Standard Time.

Meanwhile, Hotel del Luna is the first of the four weekend dramas that tvN has lined up for the second half of 2019. It will be followed by the last part of Arthdal Chronicles starring Song Joong-ki and Kim Ji-won, Melting Me Softly starring Ji Chang-wook and Won Jin-ah, and Crash Landing of Love starring Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin.

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