SBS's new variety lineup launched in the second half of the year has recorded high ratings and buzz day after day, proving the powerhouse's strength as a 100% hit maker in variety shows.
Earlier, on Aug. it premiered The One-Shot Project–My Turn, which demonstrated the essence of B-grade sensibility reality shows, achieving 10 million online views even before its first broadcast and creating a syndrome by becoming the first SBS variety show to remain in Netflix's top 10 for the longest period, "7 consecutive weeks", and the program Island Bachelor Young-woong, which drew attention for featuring Lim Young-woong, soared to a peak minute rating of 6.7% and finished as the No. 1 variety show in its time slot.
SBS rode that momentum to launch the network's first ballad audition The Ballad of Us and the close caregiving road talk show My manager who is too prickly for me–The secretaries (hereafter "The Secretaries") back to back, once again leading the second-half variety content landscape.
The Ballad of Us crowned itself the No. 1 Tuesday variety show from its first broadcast with overwhelming ratings and buzz. On TV it posted a 2.5% peak among 20-49 viewers, claiming the top Tuesday variety spot for six consecutive weeks, and its cumulative views on major online platforms surpassed 100 million views, an unprecedented record. On OTT, it entered Netflix Korea's top 10 for five consecutive weeks and reached a peak rank of No. 2, dominating all platforms.
As the program gained nationwide popularity, interest in the contestants has heated up. According to Pundex, the official platform of buzz research firm Good Day Corporation, within one week of broadcast the weekly issue keywords put Lee Ye-ji at No. 3, Lee Ji-hoon at No. 6, Song Ji-woo at No. 7 and Hong Seung-min at No. 10, placing many The Ballad of Us contestants in the top 10; main contestants such as Lee Ye-ji and Choi Eun-bin saw their full-episode clips and fancam videos surpass 5 million cumulative views on YouTube alone, proving that it is "the ballad era now." The Ballad of Us has established itself as a "generation-empathizing emotional audition" that spans all ages in an era flooded with sensational content, and attention is focused on how far its upward trend will continue.
The Secretaries, newly scheduled in the late-night Friday slot, rose to prominence as the week's must-watch variety show despite being new, hitting a 1.5% peak among 20-49 viewers from the first episode and a peak minute rating of 6.7%. Critics say The Secretaries offers fresh fun with the unexpected pairing of Lee Seo-jin and Kim Kwang-kyu and guests' unforeseen caregiving chemistry. In the first episode, trending comedian Lee Su-ji appeared and made Lee Seo-jin perform "soup caregiving," and in episode three guest Sunwoo Yong-nyeo provoked laughter with her one-sided favoritism toward Lee Seo-jin.
In the recently released episode four, Lee Seo-jin and Kim Kwang-kyu even made special appearances on SBS's Wed.-Thu. drama Dynamite Kiss, showing the boundless aspects of caregivers through a male-male couple performance. As episodes progressed and The Secretaries' caregiving chemistry stood out, the show reached No. 2 on Netflix Korea's top 10 and surpassed 28 million cumulative views on digital platforms in just four episodes, raising expectations for further growth.
From My Turn to The Ballad of Us and The Secretaries, SBS, which recorded a 100% hit rate for second-half variety shows, plans to release a new season of Whenever Possible in December.
[photo] broadcast poster
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