Really sad. So many of my favorite shows through the years have been on KBS or MBC.

Then (as a US viewer) the big 3 keep us on pins and needles as to which streams their dramas are going to be licensed. It is not a given now that their dramas will be available on Kocowa (which they jointly own) and thus on Viki US.
I am still waiting to see if MBC’s NUMBERS and KBS’s HEARTBEAT will be available on a legal stream in the US.
(Apologies for the Monday morning rant!)

I think KBS could be happy as I saw on twitter My perfect stranger was most watched drama on streaming last week on a list that combined all Korean streamings platform. (https://twitter.com/ottranking/status/1661915076318875649)
KBS have sageuk Goryeo Khitan war in pipeline for this winter in celebrating KBS 50th founding anniversary. They had script reading a few days ago. They opening Wen-thur time slot again this winter.
SBS also opening Mon-thus in October!

In my opinion, SBS is still thriving. They are producing one hit after another, like Taxi Driver S2, Dr Romantic S3 (that number is still good). Upcoming they will have The Revenant and 7 Escapes which are their flagship projects ("pinned" on their Instagram account)

KBS has a proper sageuk in production. The 32 episode THE GORYEO-KHITAN WAR. Reports are that filming began on May 17 and it will air in November.

I count at least 3 MBC fusiony sageuks in the works:
1. LOVERS (Namgoong Min)
2. FLOWERS THAT BLOOM AT NIGHT (Lee Ha-nee)
3. THE STORY OF PARK's MARRIAGE CONTRACT (Lee se-young).

I wondered that too- but YOUNG LADY AND GENTLEMAN only finished a little over a year ago with only one other weekender in between. It may be that some other shows are simply taking audience away.

But I do think that to some extent this show may be making its viewers too uncomfortable. Because many of the prejudices and problems being shown are common to the average Korean. Such as the prejudice against single parenthood which when combined with the traditional Neo Confucian prejudice against adoption means that a girl who gets pregnant may realistically have only abortion as an option. While it should certainly be a choice it should not be the only choice.

Combine this with the burdens that Korean society places on marriage plus the economic uncertainty facing young people who have difficulty finding a job and it is little wonder that Korea's birthrate has fallen catastrophically (one wit put it this way: "Korea is abolishing itself").

This show is not a "Let's have more babies" show, rather it is a realistic response to such a sentiment. It could actually have been titled LET'S GET REAL, PEOPLE.

As good as this show has been written when compared to several weekenders before it, I actually think that it may be suffering from being too topical and timely. The message has to make people uncomfortable. I would also note that at least some of the problems it shows apply to developed countries beyond Korea and have had the same effects. Italy is a good example of this, for instance.