Legend of the Blue Sea to Reair on ABS-CBN’s Primetime Bida

Another Koreanovela rerun will take place on ABS-CBN this week.

Beginning Monday, ‘Legend of the Blue Sea’ will take over the timeslot of ‘Weightlifting Fairy’ on the network’s Primetime Bida block. The Koreanovela previously aired from May 8 to July 14 on the Kapamilya Gold block.

With this announcement, ABS-CBN’s slate of Koreanovelas now consist entirely of reruns. In an ironic twist of fate, ‘Legend of the Blue Sea’ was succeeded by the rerun of ‘Love in the Moonlight’, and now the two reairing series share the spotlight.

‘Legend of the Blue Sea’ stars Korean pop star Lee Min-ho and Jun Ji-hyun, with a story centering on a con artist and a mermaid who traveled across the ocean to find him. The series earned six SBS Drama Awards, spawned a soundtrack album and aired in various countries around the world.

Although the initial run of ‘Legend of the Blue Sea’ was a success in the ratings, the series faced some obstacles. Since it was assigned to Kapamilya Gold’s 5:00 p.m. ‘death slot’, only a few select areas received the Koreanovela largely due to ABS-CBN Regional’s ‘TV Patrol’.

To make matters worse, the 9:00 a.m. next-day airing of ‘Legend of the Blue Sea’ in these affected areas was often preempted due to the 2017 NBA Playoffs last May and June. The end result were skipped episodes that left some viewers with a bitter taste in their mouths.

For the most part, it was a good thing for ABS-CBN to reair ‘Legend of the Blue Sea’ on primetime to benefit those affected by the preemptions. After all, the series is too popular and too good to be interrupted, and they owed these viewers every single episode of it.

Still, for those who have watched every single episode of ‘Legend of the Blue Sea’, is it worth a second look? Probably, but considering the fervent fanaticism of Filipino Koreanovela fans, ‘Legend of the Blue Sea’ truly deserves another go-round.

‘Legend of the Blue Sea’ airs after ‘A Love to Last’ on ABS-CBN Primetime Bida.

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In 100 Words: Legend of the Blue Sea Impresses Despite Limited Reach

Talk about quashing some pressing concerns.

Last Monday’s premiere of ABS-CBN’s newest afternoon Koreanovela ‘Legend of the Blue Sea’ defied expectations and scored an impressive victory on its first try. This despite the fact that most regional networks receive localized versions of ‘TV Patrol’ in the afternoon instead of the Koreanovela.

Via ABS-CBN PR (source courtesy of Kantar Media Philippines):

Fans tuned in to the pilot episode of “Legend of the Blue Sea” starring Lee Min Ho as it scored a national TV rating of 15.5%, compared to “Wowowin” with only 11.8%.

Affected areas can still watch ‘Legend of the Blue Sea’ at 9:30 a.m. the next day. If not, subscribe to iWant TV to watch the Koreanovela within hours of original broadcast.

As for the primetime Koreanovela ‘Goblin’, it scored a 12.1 % rating on its first night, six better than fellow Koreanovela ‘Scarlet Heart’. Not bad.