‘Infinity Challenge’ returns to the airwaves after 174 days

Absent for the majority of the year due to the MBC strike, popular variety program ‘Infinity Challenge‘ has finally greeted its viewers once again for the first time in seven months.

The cast excitedly greeted all of the staff members on set and immediately sought to grab the most camera angles for themselves. “170 days felt like 170 years,” Park Myung Soo said.

The program kicked off its return with the ‘Muhan News’ corner, in which the members caught up with each other and reported the latest events that happened with their lives, including Jung Jun Ha’s marriage and homecoming as well as Jung Hyung Don‘s announcement that he was about to become the father of twins.

Meanwhile, actress Lee Na Young will be making her appearance on next week’s ‘Infinity Challenge’.

Source: Star News via Nate

MBC’s variety department in a state of emergency

Due to the continuing effects of the labor strike, broadcast station MBC‘s variety department has been experiencing a crippling downward trend of ratings woes and viewer apathy.

MBC’s trump card, ‘Infinity Challenge‘, is in its 21st week of no new episodes and is stuck airing re-runs for the time being. The latest re-run garnered a measly rating of 4.7%, a far cry from the variety juggernaut which normally gained ratings in the 15-20% range.

However, the news is even worse for other programs. The latest episode of the wedding-variety show ‘We Got Married‘ eked out a 4.5% – lower than even the re-run for ‘Infinity Challenge’, even though ‘We Got Married’ had returned to normal programming.

The current leader in MBC variety is ‘Dancing With the Stars 2‘, with a respectable – if not spectacular – showing of 11.1%. It is the only MBC variety program to record in the double digits within the past week.

Newly-launched programs such as ‘Jewelry House‘, ‘I Am a Singer 2‘, and ‘Muhan Girls‘ are also showing less-than-stellar results, compounding the problems for MBC.

With the current labor strike still going on in full force, it is unknown when operations will return to normal, and if their sagging ratings will go back to pre-strike levels.

Source: Newsen via Nate