[Edaily Starin YUN GI BACK Reporter] “September is just flying by.”
The 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games are even changing TV schedules. Following the confirmation that MBC’s *What Do You Do When You’re Bored?* will be off the air for three consecutive weeks, major terrestrial variety shows such as SBS’s *Running Man* and KBS’s *2 Days & 1 Night* are also taking a hiatus one after another. As broadcasters focus on covering key events, the home entertainment scene is entering full-fledged “Asian Games mode.”

The Asian Games, taking place from the 19th to October 4 in Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya, Japan, are held in the same time zone as South Korea. Since competitions in popular sports—including soccer, baseball, archery, and badminton—will run from daytime through the evening prime-time hours, this will have a significant impact on the scheduling of regular variety shows and dramas.
The program taking the longest hiatus is *What Do You Do When You’re Bored?*. MBC will suspend broadcasts on the 19th, 26th, and October 3rd, resuming on October 10th. This marks a three-week hiatus. The suspension schedule for this period has also been announced on MBC’s official website.
The cast members also expressed their disappointment directly on the show. When Yoo Jae-suk announced, “We won’t be airing for three weeks due to the Asian Games,” Joo Woo-jae reacted in surprise, saying, “The whole month of September is just gone.” Yoo Jae-suk remarked, “I have mixed feelings. It is a bit disappointing,” but went on to wish the national team athletes, who have been preparing for the competition for four years, the best of luck.
Other MBC programs will also be affected. “Show! Music Core” will move its broadcast time up to 2:35 p.m. on the 19th and will not air on the 26th or October 3. Some regular programs, such as the movie information show “Let’s Go! Video Travel,” are also scheduled to be adjusted according to the competition schedule.

SBS is also taking a break from its flagship weekend variety shows. “Running Man” will not air for two consecutive weeks on the 20th and 27th due to the Asian Games broadcasts. With popular variety shows consecutively missing their Sunday evening slots, SBS is also restructuring its weekend schedule to prioritize live coverage of major events.
The same applies to KBS. KBS2 will focus on broadcasting major Asian Games events on the 20th, resulting in the cancellation of “The Boss’s Ears Are Donkey Ears” and “1 Night, 2 Days.” However, not all regular programs will be suspended. Weekend dramas and some late-night variety shows are scheduled to air as usual after the games conclude, allowing the network to balance sports coverage with its regular programming.
As the Games last for 16 days, these scheduling changes are expected to continue for the time being. In particular, if the South Korean national teams advance to the later rounds in popular sports such as soccer and baseball, additional cancellations or broadcast time changes may occur depending on the match schedule. From late September through early October, terrestrial TV’s weekend programming will effectively be reorganized into “Asian Games mode.”