New Cast, Same Problem: 2 Days & 1 Night Drops to 6.0% After Four Consecutive Weeks of Ratings Declines

2 Days & 1 Night Season 4 has recorded four consecutive weeks of ratings declines, dropping from 7.4% on July 5 (episode 334) to 6.0% in its most recent broadcast (episode 338). The slide is notable because it has continued through a cast refresh, not despite the absence of one.

The show added broadcaster Lee Yong-jin and actor Lee Gi-taek in May, following the departure of Yoo Sun-ho. It was the sixth member exit since Season 4 launched in October 2019. Fresh faces usually buy a variety program a short bounce in curiosity viewing; here, that bounce either did not materialize or faded quickly. At 6.0%, the show is not in crisis, but the direction of travel over a month-long stretch warrants attention from KBS2.

This weekend's episode, airing at 6:10 p.m. KST on Sunday, continues the current cast's overseas vacation arc. The six members turn to a 13-item luxury dinner auction, wagering the coins they earned in earlier missions on restaurant-grade dishes. The premise leans into the show's familiar competitive-variety format: scarcity, bluffing, and the small humiliations that come from losing to a teammate.

The episode's main needle-mover is Lee Yong-jin and DinDin, the show's self-appointed strategy rivals. Before bidding opens, both spend their energy disrupting everyone else's read of the room. Lee Yong-jin, seated next to DinDin, reportedly files a false tip to the production staff that "DinDin is cheating", a low-stakes provocation that is more theater than accusation, but lands as a clean bit of chaos.

The team dynamics carry over from last week. The Ko-Yong-Taek alliance of Kim Jong-min, Lee Yong-jin, and Lee Gi-taek went winless in the mileage-earning mission against the Jun-Moon-Cheol team of Moon Se-yoon, Lee Jun, and DinDin. Both sides enter the sleeping-arrangement lottery with competing arithmetic: Ko-Yong-Taek insisting "it's our turn to win," and Jun-Moon-Cheol quietly agreeing that the odds have shifted, apparently more interested in a good rivalry than an easy night.

Whether the sleeping lottery result rescues the alliance's pride is the episode's closing question. The more pressing question belongs to the network: four weeks of declining numbers on a show that has cycled through six cast members in six years suggests the issue may be structural rather than personnel-related. 2 Days & 1 Night built its reputation on genuine discomfort and unpredictable chemistry. Getting that back is harder than finding a new face to sit around the fire.