On June 2, Star News published an article which announced the early conclusion of tvN's weekend series, "Ex-Girlfriend Club." The drama, which stars Song Ji Hyo and Byun Yo Han, will be reduced from 16 episodes to 12 episodes.
"To improve the completeness of the show, it will end with episode 12," said a representative for tvN.
"Ex-Girlfriend Club" struggled with ratings. Song is a popular star of "Running Man" but her inclusion in "Ex-Girlfriend Club" did little to boost ratings. The show premiered on May 8, but viewership for the Friday-Saturday program continued to drop. According to reports from Nielsen Korea (AGB Nielsen), "Ex-Girlfriend Club" recorded 1.16 percent. The ratings continued to fluctuate, with episode 7 recording 0.64 percent.
"Ex-Girlfriend Club" is broadcast on tvN, a cable network. While low ratings are common for cable programs, viewership for the drama starkly contrasted against recent episodes of "Three Meals a Day." "Three Meals a Day" is also broadcast on tvN, but the variety show continues to yield solid ratings. The March 22 episode received 8.0 percent of nationwide viewers while the May 29 episode recorded 8.7 percent.
"Three Meals a Day" benefitted from a guest appearance by Park Shin Hye and her chemistry with the program's permanent cast member, Taecyeon.
The early cancelation of "Ex-Girlfriend Club" follows the abrupt conclusion of the 2014 tvN drama, "The Idle Mermaid." "The Idle Mermaid" was originally slated for a 14 episode run but was reduced to 10 episodes, following low ratings. The series starred Song Jae Rim (We Got Married) and served as the acting debut of Nam Joo Hyuk (Who Are You: School 2015).
"Ex-Girlfriend Club" will air its final episode on June 13. The series will be followed by the supernatural romantic comedy, "Oh My Ghost."
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About the writer: Adrienne Stanley is a contributing writer for Kpopstarz, KDramastars, MTV Iggy and CJ Entertainment's KCON blog. Her passions include a love of K-pop and Asian drama. When she is not writing she is hanging out on Twitter (@retrogirladdy).
