Despite various controversies, including scheduling conflicts and the removal of a key character from the original work, the drama 'Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born' is seeing a rise in viewership ratings.

The first two episodes of tvN's 'Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born' aired on October 12th and 13th. Based on the webtoon 'Jeongnyeon', the drama is set in post-Korean War 1950s and follows the story of Jeongnyeon (played by Kim Tae Ri), a born genius in vocal talent, as she competes to become the top gukgeuk (Korean traditional opera) performer. The drama explores her journey through competition, solidarity, and her shining growth.

With a star-studded cast including Kim Tae Ri, Shin Ye Eun, Jung Eun Chae, and Ra Mi Ran, 'Jeongnyeon' was a highly anticipated production even before its release. However, the show faced turbulence due to scheduling conflicts right before its first broadcast.

Last month, MBC filed for a provisional injunction against the production company behind 'Jeongnyeon', which was granted, bringing the issue into the spotlight. Originally, 'Jeongnyeon' was set to air on MBC, and both MBC and the production company, Studio N, had been working on the project for about a year. However, due to issues with production costs, 'Jeongnyeon' partnered with Studio Dragon instead. MBC claimed that they suffered losses, including the resignation of PD Jung Ji In, who left MBC to join the project.

The production company, however, refuted MBC’s claims, stating that they had not received any payments from MBC and were forced to switch to tvN due to delays in the production cost negotiations.

In addition to the scheduling controversy, the drama sparked further debate when the character Buyong, a key figure in the original webtoon, was removed from the adaptation. In the original, Buyong is Jeongnyeon's biggest fan and plays an essential role in the story, which centers around women’s narratives. Additionally, Buyong’s character embodies queer themes in the original story, and its removal has been viewed by some viewers as an erasure of those themes. However, the production team explained that this decision was made due to the constraints of fitting the story into a 12-episode format and was agreed upon after discussions with the original author.

Amid these controversies, the first episode of 'Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born' premiered with a rating of 4.8%. Although considered underwhelming for such a highly anticipated drama, the second episode, which showcased Jeongnyeon fully stepping into the world of gukgeuk, saw a rise in ratings to 8.2%, showing significant growth (according to Nielsen Korea's nationwide paid household ratings).

The drama has also garnered attention for Kim Tae Ri’s performance, as it was revealed that she had been training in pansori (traditional Korean singing) for three years in preparation for the role. 

While there are still mixed reactions surrounding the scheduling controversy and other issues, the show has already doubled its ratings in just two episodes, slowly gaining more attention. Whether 'Jeongnyeon: The Star Is Born' will overcome these controversies and surpass double-digit ratings remains to be seen.