[Edaily Starin Gim Ga Yeong Reporter] With the conclusion of the SBS Friday-Saturday drama "Manager Kim," which recorded a nationwide household viewership rating of 23%, the broadcasting industry is closely watching where the viewers who tuned in to watch the show will go next.

According to Nielsen Korea, the special episodes of SBS’s “Manager Kim”—“Manager Kim: The Universe,” which aired on the 31st of last month and the 1st of this month—recorded viewership ratings of △4.5% (based on national household ratings) and △3.5%, respectively. This represents a decline compared to the 23% viewership rating with which “Manager Kim” concluded its run. As this was a special episode, it appears that the original drama’s viewership base has shifted elsewhere.
MBC’s new Friday-Saturday drama “Married Woman Killer,” which premiered on the 31st of last month and aired in the same time slot, posted viewership ratings of △7.4% (Episode 1) and △8.0% (Episode 2). This marks a strong start compared to MBC’s Friday-Saturday drama “Fifty Percent,” which concluded last June with a peak rating of 6%.
Viewership ratings for the previously airing drama also rose slightly. KBS2’s Saturday-Sunday drama *The Perfection of Marriage* had recorded a rating of a viewership rating of △4.8% (Episode 6, aired July 25). On July 26—the day after “Manager Kim” ended—it rose by 2.5% to △7.3% (Episode 8), and on the 1st and 2nd of this month, it recorded △7.5% (Episode 9) and △7.2% (Episode 10), respectively. tvN’s Saturday-Sunday drama “Creepy Romance” recorded a rating of △4.4% before “Manager Kim” ended; after the series concluded, it recorded △5.8% (Episode 4, July 26) and △5.5% (Episode 5, August 1), respectively, and reached its highest viewership rating of 6.0% in Episode 6 on August 2. JTBC’s Saturday-Sunday drama “Apartment” showed ratings of △4.1% (Episode 5, July 25), △5.2% (Episode 6, July 26), △4.4% (Episode 7, August 1), and △5.4% (Episode 8, August 2). This indicates a slight increase in the drama’s viewership.
A network official stated, “With ‘Director Kim’ coming to an end, we’ve seen a slight uptick in viewership for currently airing dramas,” adding, “It’s important that this trend isn’t just a temporary phenomenon.”
Another broadcasting industry official remarked, “The fact that viewership ratings for other dramas did not drop significantly while ‘Director Kim’ was airing indicates that a new audience has been drawn in,” adding, “The broadcasting industry must prepare quality content to retain this audience and ensure that viewers who have returned to TV do not leave again.”