IU and Byun Woo-seok ranked 1st and 2nd for 2 consecutive weeks..The drama "The Grand Duchess of the 21st Century" is the most popular

*This content was translated by AI.

The 21st Century Grand Prince's Wife proves to be the most anticipated work in the first half of 2026.

MBC's Friday-Saturday drama "The Grand Prince Lady of the 21st Century" (script Yoo Ji-won/director Park Joon-hwa, Bae Hee-young/projected Kang Dae-sun/production MBC, Kakao Entertainment) has been receiving enthusiastic responses since its first broadcast, ranking top from ratings to buzz and global rankings.

"21st Century Grand Prince Lady," which ranked No. 1 in TV-OTT drama popularity before its first broadcast (as of March 31, 2026) for the first time since the survey on popularity, not only set a record for selling out advertisements but was also selected as the "most anticipated Korean drama of 2026" by Time magazine. In addition, IU (played by Sung Hee-joo) and Byun Woo-seok (played by Lee An-daegun) were ranked first and second side by side in the popularity ranking of drama actors, attracting a lot of attention even before the first broadcast.(As of April 07, 2026)

Thanks to this, the first broadcast of "The Grand Prince Lady of the 21st Century" ranked No. 1 in Friday-Saturday dramas with 8.2% of households in the metropolitan area and 7.8% nationwide. The ratings for the second episode were 10.8 percent for households in the Seoul metropolitan area, 9.5 percent nationwide, 2054 5.3 percent and up to 11.1 percent, showing a high rise, sweeping the top spot for the second consecutive time (based on Nielsen Korea)

On top of that, according to a FUNDEX survey conducted by Good Data Corporation, a K-content competitiveness analysis agency, it topped the TV-OTT drama hot topic in the second week of April 2026. It scored more than 80,000 points in the popularity score, and its share of Friday-Saturday dramas exceeded 90%, exceeding 50% of all contents. Among them, VON (Community Response, Voice of Netizen) ranked first in social media and news rankings, respectively, and second in video, among the indicators that make up the buzz.

IU and Byun Woo-seok, who are in sync with the romance with "Daegunbbu," also maintained the top two spots for drama actors, realizing the synergy of the great trend. (As of April 14, 2026) After the broadcast, the community said, "The Yeoju is so fond of going straight like a bulldozer," "All the people love Prince Ian, I love him too," "Daegunbbu is so good," "This is a relational restaurant," and "It's refreshing to see the 21st-century Grand Prince's performance."

The response from OTT is also unusual. As soon as it was released, "The Grand Prince Lady of the 21st Century" remained No. 1 in Disney+ Korea's TOP 10 and ranked No. 4 globally in the Disney+ TOP 10 TV show category based on Flix Patrol. A total of 44 countries and regions, including Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Brazil, second, Mexico, fourth, Canada, Australia, and the United States, have entered the top 10, proving their global popularity. Wavve has also maintained its No. 1 ranking in the TOP 20 rankings since its first broadcast.(As of April 13, 2026)

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*This content was translated by AI.