Update to the Summer 2012 Ratings Race - 17 Sep 12

With more dramas ending their run as of yesterday, here is how the average ratings ranking look like:

(Dramas in bold have already finished airing their final episodes)

1) GTO 13.13%
2) Iryu Sousa 12.44%
3) Rich Man, Poor Woman 12.36%
4) Keishicho Sousa Ikka 9 Kakari 11.79%
5) Ghost Mama Sousasen 10.72%
6) Tokkan 10.41%
7) Kyoto Chiken no Onna 10.31%
8) Kuro no Onna Kyoushi / Summer Rescue 10.07%
10) Beautiful Rain 10.01%

11) Iki mo dekinai natsu 9.84%
12) Higashino Keigo Mysteries 8.56%
13) Beginners 7.44%
14) Boys On The Run 5.83%
15) Naniwa Shounen Tanteidan 5.61%
16) Omo ni naitemasu 5.25%
17) VISION 3.13%
18) Sprout 2.66%
19) Soumatou Kabushikigaisha 2.29%

Looking at the fact that the Top 5 have already finished their OAs and the remaining dramas don't seem to possess the ratings necessary to go above the 10.5% mark, I think we might not see any significant changes in the final ranking, come next week.

It's rather difficult to analyse and tell which type of dramas were popular this summer. If you look at the top 5, Iryu Sousa and Keishicho Sousa Ikka 9 Kakari were detective/suspense stories which seemed to suggest that this genre was still a hit with viewers. However, if you look at dramas like Higashino Keigo Mysteries, it doesn't seem to be the case. Of course, in terms of story and production quality, these dramas wouldn't be entirely consistent or on the same level so there is really no basis of comparison. In addition, ratings this summer were fluctuating so much due to the summer holidays, Olympics and the annual 24 Jikan Terebi-type of events which ate into the momentum built up by some dramas. If spring 2012 was when viewers had a clear preference for the investigative/suspense dramas e.g. Kagi no Kakatta Heya, Mikeneko Holmes no Suiri, ATARU, it is almost impossible to do the same this summer because there isn't a clearcut winner after all.