[Edaily Starin JOO MEE_HEE Reporter] The SBS Friday-Saturday drama "Manager Kim," starring actor So Ji-sub, surpassed the 20% viewership mark after just four episodes.

According to Nielsen Korea on the 5th, the fourth episode of “Manager Kim,” which aired the previous day, recorded a nationwide viewership rating of 21.6%. Having started with a 9.5% rating in its first episode, “Manager Kim” has shown a steep upward trend, reaching 15.7% in the second episode, 18.8% in the third, and breaking the 20% mark by its fourth episode.
This marks the first time in about two years—since tvN’s “Queen of Tears” (peak viewership of 24.9%), which aired in 2024—that a domestic miniseries has surpassed a 20% viewership rating. Compared to “Queen of Tears,” which reached 20% after 12 episodes, “Manager Kim” is rising at a significantly faster pace. All eyes are on whether it will surpass the record held by JTBC’s “The Youngest Son of a Chaebol Family” (26.9%), which holds the record for the highest viewership rating among miniseries in the 2020s.
“Director Kim’s” performance is particularly significant because it was achieved while competing against other shows airing in the same time slot. KBS 2TV’s “The Perfection of Marriage,” which premiered that day amid high expectations as actor Namgoong Min’s comeback project, managed only a 4.4% viewership rating. JTBC’s “Chairman Kang, the New Employee,” set to conclude on the 5th, recorded its highest viewership rating to date at 10.8%, but it was unable to halt “Director Kim’s” upward momentum.
It is an unusual phenomenon for the combined viewership ratings of the three dramas airing in the same time slot—including both terrestrial and cable networks—to reach 36.8%, demonstrating that “Director Kim” is drawing a new audience to their TV screens in addition to existing viewers. Analysts attribute this to the action sequences and emotional depth of So Ji-sub, who plays an enraged father in the drama, resonating with viewers.
In the fourth episode, which aired on the 4th, the conflict between the protagonist, Manager Kim (played by So Ji-sub), and Ju Kang-chan (played by Joo Sang-wook) intensified, while the revelation that Manager Kim’s daughter, Min-ji, is alive heightened the suspense surrounding future plot developments.