[Edaily Starin YUN GI BACK Reporter] The SBS Friday-Saturday drama “Manager Kim,” starring So Ji-sub, has once again broken its own record for highest viewership, continuing its dominant run. Following its rewriting of this year’s record for mini-series viewership, it has now come very close to setting the all-time highest viewership record for SBS Friday-Saturday dramas.

According to Nielsen Korea on the 19th, the eighth episode of “Manager Kim,” which aired on the 18th, recorded 23.6% in the Seoul metropolitan area and 23.1% nationwide, breaking its own record for highest viewership. The peak viewership soared to 26.2%, and the 2049 demographic rating reached a high of 8.59% with an average of 7.6%, capturing both public attention and high viewership.
“Manager Kim,” which has been setting new personal bests with every episode since its premiere, firmly maintained its position as the number one show across all channels in its time slot. It continues its run of success by repeatedly breaking the record for the highest viewership among miniseries aired this year.
Notably, “Director Kim” has surpassed the peak viewership ratings of all of SBS’s flagship hits, including “The Fiery Priest” (22%), “Model Taxi 2” (21%), “Stove League” (19.1%), “Wonder Woman” (17.8%), and “Good Partner” (17.7%). Attention is now turning to the all-time record for SBS Friday-Saturday dramas. The current highest viewership rating is 29.2%, set by “Penthouse 2,” which aired in 2021. With “Director Kim” having already set the highest viewership rating for an SBS Friday-Saturday drama (excluding “Penthouse 2”), all eyes are on whether it can break the 30% barrier and make history with just two episodes remaining until its finale.
In that day’s episode, Director Kim (So Ji-sub) was shown carrying out his final mission to start a new life with his daughter, Min-ji. While protecting a high-ranking North Korean defector, Director Kim, suspecting the presence of an internal mole, moved to a new hideout but found himself unexpectedly surrounded by agents from the Special Missions Bureau.
Toward the end of the episode, “Ground Squirrel” (Won Hyun-joon) held Min-ji up like a hostage and declared, “Your mission has failed,” leading to a shocking finale in which Director Kim faced the danger of being eliminated in South Korea and repatriated to North Korea. With a massive conspiracy now exposed, viewers are eagerly watching to see if Director Kim and “Dad Universe” can successfully complete their final mission.