“Murder Diary’s” Viewership Ratings Plunge to 15.5 Points
TVB’s Murder Diary <刑偵日記> has dropped again in weekly ratings, sliding two points to only 15.5 points in its second week. It has now become the lowest rated drama of the year. However, there are other factors at play behind the low viewership, as Murder Diary is an ambitious effort and quality drama for those who enjoy a complex crime drama.
As Murder Diary has already been broadcast in China and on myTV Gold, interested viewers already tuned in when it first premiered on June 15 on those platforms. Competing station ViuTV is currently airing lighthearted comedy, Ossan’s Love <大叔的愛>, which may have stolen some of TVB’s usual audience of intergenerational families who may find Murder Diary‘s tense content unsuitable for viewing during dinner time.
Surpassing the usual clichés for standard TVB police dramas, Murder Diary was an experiment to see whether the Hong Kong audience can accept a more solemn drama that involves intricate storytelling and suspense. The low viewership ratings in its first two weeks of broadcast indicate that the Hong Kong audience is not very receptive to Murder Diary’s oblique storytelling.
Hong Kong’s television stations need to improve, as much as the audience needs to become more sophisticated as well. As long as TVB continues to produce quality dramas and maintain their passion towards production, then there is always a market for change.
Source: HK01
This article is written by Kiki for JayneStars.com.
I don’t mind it… However, it requires effort to understand. Does surprise me that the rating plunges even with a top cast. TVB tried too hard this time. Oh wells, TVB will live and learn.
After ep 12, I’l don’t really have the urge to keep watching, especially since Philip still has yet to show up. I get that the editting wants to bring out the back story but it makes it choppy. And Ben’s story line is just not good enough. Why does seem like everyone knows he’s the killer yet he can come into the police headquarters anytime?
@bubbles23 Doesn’t phillip come in the end of episode 12? I don’t remember but it is almost there for him to appear lol. I shouted “YES!” as I also waited for half the series to air before he appeared.
As I’ve been saying it is choppy but after Ben got caught, I thought ok now it’s making sense. However, the new story arc is also choppy. The editing really makes it hard to follow. I’m still slowly trying to get through it but disappointing results for a highly-anticipated series and cast. Also the dumb thing that TVB does with releasing episodes early might have also killed the ratings but I’ve never seen it this bad
Oops I counted wrong, it was so 11 where I started to feel the drama was losing its grip. But I’m glad Philip is back in the story now. I just wish they cut out the romance cause it’s such a drag.
Lofty efforts, poor execution. But I can see the effort and sincerity.
I just finished the entire drama. Last 3 episodes were really rushed. I was very invested in this series.
Pros: novel idea and good acting
Cons: the directing, too much emphasis on romance and unrealistic romance that is, and miscast
Mandy Wong was a miscast and the tricky thing is: it wasn’t a hard role
Lai Lok Yi is tall and mean which is fitting for his abusive cop role, but did his character “repent”?
With the exception of Willie Wai, Mandy Wong, and Vincent Wong, every single cop had anger management issues and abused their power or was the actual criminal i.e. Benjamin and Shiga and almost Lai Lok Yi
I like Venus Wong but she was a moot character, meaning she didn’t add nor subtract value
Benjamin Yuen was a miscast because he’s not creepy, he is confusing
Highlighted performances in ranked order:
Momo Ng (yes, she outshone Kara Wai for a couple of seconds)
Kelly Fu (vast improvement and beat out consistent Vincent Wong)
Fei Wong (newbie)
Shiga Lin (her last 3 seconds was creepier than Benjamin’s 25 episodes)
Mark Ma had potential but horrible, horrible writing for his character
Veteran actors in ranked order:
Kara
Vincent
I’m sorry Phillip and Alice, Phillip appeared too late and Alice’s story dragged on
Unrealistic romance:
Vincent with Mandy
Vincent with Venus
Believable bonds:
Kara Wai and Vincent and mother and son
Hana Kuk and Vincent’s Matt personality as platonic childhood friends
Sorry for asking, who is Fei Wong?
The actress who plays Benjamin Yuen’s deceased wife in the drama
they really blew the drama towards the end. i was rooting for tvb. i will give credit for trying to break out of the shell though.
Yea! I can follow comments again! Looking at the feedback here, good I decided to stop and switch back to Netflix
There isn’t much to look forward to for HK dramas… A.I. Lover is yet to air on cable but we’ve all watched it. The only two I would watch is Barack O Karma 2 and Priscilla’s drama. Ossan’s Love completely killed any hype for Murder Diary.
Yeah, I’m waiting for Barack O Karma2 too! I thought it was coming out soon so I rewatched the first series to refresh my memory and then I realize it’s not out yet -___-
MD’S LOW TV RATINGS has barely anything to do with the drama itself. It is because its was aired online first and that is where the big audience is now. This drama is not to the typical housewife (who majority is the audience for the tv air time/ratings). This drama is the best tvb has done in YEARS! Its almost with par of a Korean drama! Its disappointing to see that TVB will likely see it as wrong way and stop producing mind-twisting dramas like this in the future. And revert to the old ways. Which is so outdated now.
Perhaps TVB should consider separating its income and cost based on platform. Shows meant for younger audiences go online (TVB anywhere?) thereby attracting the correct sponsors while shows meant for older audiences go on TV to attract local advertising……
I wasn’t interested in this at first because there was VW, but I started getting curious after hearing low ratings, yet that it was also very good. So far, I’m on episode 9. I like the plot. I like dramas that let me keep thinking otherwise, it would become pointless background noise. It’s very different from the dramas TVB usually has. I quite like the change although it could be a bit better.
If anyone is interested in watching this, they should reduce distractions in the first episode. Once you get the gist of the situation, it’ll be fine. When I watched the first episode, I constantly kept rewinding because I was part conversing, part eating a hands-on dinner, and with a slight headache. LOL