Sponsor (TV series)

Sponsor (Korean: 스폰서; RR: Seuponseo)^[3] is a 2022 South Korean television series starring Lee Ji-hoon, Han Chae-young, Ji Yi-soo and Koo Ja-Sung.^[4][5] The drama is described as another Penthouse.^[6] It was scheduled to premiere on iHQ on November 29, 2021 but postponed to February 2022 with a plan to simultaneous air on MBN along with iHQ.^[7] It premiered on MBN simultaneously with iHQ from February 23, 2022.^[8]

Sponsor
Promotional poster
Also known as	Desire
Genre	Drama Thriller Romance Revenge
Created by	iHQ[1]
Written by	Han Hui-jeung Lee Joo-hee (formerly, Park Kye-Hyung)
Directed by	Lee Cheol (formerly, Kwak Ki-won)
Music by	Hong Seung-hyun (Fara Effect)
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	12
Production
Executive producers	Park Jong-jin Heo Hwan Jeong Jin-yong
Producer	Choi Jae-Soon
Running time	55 minute
Production company	Victory Contents[2]
Original release
Network	iHQ Drama, MBN
Release	February 23 (2022-2-23) – April 6, 2022 (2022-4-6)

Synopsis

A romance thriller between four men and women running like a runaway locomotive toward different desires, including success, revenge, children and love.

Cast

Main

• Lee Ji-hoon as Lee Sun-woo
• Han Chae-young as Han Chae-rin
• Ji Yi-soo as Park Da-som
• Koo Ja-sung as Hyun Seung-hoon

Supporting

• Kim Yoon-seo as Hyun Sung-gi, Seung-hun's older sister.^[9]
• Kim Kang-hyun as Kang-hyun^[10]
• Park Geun-hyung as President Park^[11]
• Kim Jung-tae as David Park^[11]
• Lee Yoon-mi as Joo-ah , David Park's ex-wife and store representative.^[12]
• Han Seul^[13]
• Kim Hee-jung as Park Da-hye the younger sister of Park Da-som and an employee of the beauty product development team.^[14]
• Jung Min-kyu as Han Yu-min, Han Chae-rin's younger brother^[15]
• Jo Hyo-in as Joo Young-chan, ambitious model^[16]

Special appearance

• Park Joon-geum as President Lee^[17]
• Eru as Michael^[18]

Production

Development

• Originally, the series title was Desire, but the title was changed to Sponsor as the director was changed from PD Kwak Ki-won to PD Lee Cheol. The writer was also changed to Han Hui-Jeung.^[19][20]
• President Park Jong-jin told iHQ, “The series is very realistic because it is based on a true story.^[21]
• The drama is the first project of the new channel.

Ratings

Average TV viewership ratings (nationwide)

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[22]
1	February 23, 2022	1.2%
2	February 24, 2022	1.4%
3	March 2, 2022	1.1%
4	March 3, 2022	1.2%
5	March 10, 2022	1.2%
6	March 16, 2022	0.9%
7	March 17, 2022	0.9%
8	March 23, 2022	0.5%
9	March 24, 2022	1.2%
10	March 30, 2022	0.5%
11	March 30, 2022	0.9%
12	April 6, 2022	0.931%
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. This drama airs on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).