The first live episode of the SBS talk show “Hwashin - Controller of the Heart,” which broadcast Tuesday, did not exactly set the TV world on fire.
Despite the gimmick, “Hwashin” garnered its lowest ratings since the show started in February, with just 4.5 percent according to Nielsen Korea, down from its previous low of 4.8 percent.
The live show even had big guests like Seungri of the boy group Big Bang, actress Clara, comedian Kim Jun-ho, and Kim Dae-hee, in an attempt to boost ratings.
While there are a few who say it was interesting, most viewers are vehemently against the new structure. There are many problems pointed out:
- The MCs are not used to live broadcast, so they struggle to keep the flow smooth and end up talking over each other.
- Even if there are boring answers and questions, they can't be edited out.
- Because of the time issue, guests' stories are cut off abruptly.
- Some of the guests get left out of the talk, but cannot be edited in later.
The last point was one of the biggest problems. Many viewers noticed that the talk show focused mainly on Clara for most of its run. While Seungri had some time to talk for himself, one of the guests - namely Kim Dae Hee - had absolutely no screen time as he was the fourth guest in line. He was asked nothing due to Clara's talk session taking up so much time, and in the end, when Shin Dong Yup announced the ending, he was shocked because he hadn't been able to say anything. He asked if he could say one thing, which was to ask people to watch his drama 'Ugly Alert'.
Also, since there was no editing to leave out the boring parts and include the funny ones, many viewers saw lulls in the story which caused them to change the channel out of boredom. One member of the studio audience was even spotted falling asleep behind host Kim Gu-ra at one point.
Despite the poor results, SBS will continue broadcasting the show live, at least for a while, according to local media reports. It’s even getting renamed “Hwashin Live.”