As December marks the season of year-end awards shows, anticipation for the 2025 Korea Drama Awards hosted by major networks – SBS, MBC and KBS – is heating up. However, while one network is facing the delicious challenge of too many successful contenders, the others are facing a crisis of disappointing performances.
SBS: a bounty of success, a dilemma of choice
SBS has clearly emerged as a leader this year, producing a number of popular dramas that have performed well both domestically and internationally. With numerous titles landing in the Top 10 of Netflix charts in various countries, SBS has successfully adapted to the binge-watching era driven by OTT platforms.
Its popular Friday-Saturday drama slot alone has given rise to genre hits such as crime thrillers Taxi driver 3, Queen Mantis, Buried heartsromantic comedies like Love Scouts AND Would you marry me?sports comedy The winning goaland the fusion sageuk The Haunted Palace. Many of these programs have consistently achieved double-digit viewer ratings.
Even SBS’s Wednesday and Thursday dramas, long overshadowed in recent years, have seen a resurgence with Dynamite Kiss. With so many potential nominees, selecting a single Daesang (Grand Prix) winner is proving to be quite a headache for SBS.
“We have too many deserving candidates,” joked a network source, pointing to a potential joint victory between the main players as the most likely outcome.
MBC: a year of stumbles
On the other hand, MBC is facing a creative crisis. Despite the success of period dramas like The Red Sleeve (2021) and My Dearest (2023), this year saw a return to the struggles that plagued MBC in the late 2010s.
Except Undercover high school led by Seo Kang-joon, most of MBC’s dramas have failed to make a mark in ratings or online buzz. Titles like Maria kills people AND To the Moon struggled to attract attention despite the high-profile cast.
While Moon River shows some recovery, its impact has been dulled by the massive success of SBS Taxi Driver 3, making it difficult to match past success.
KBS: An awards show too embarrassing to host?
KBS is in an even more dire situation. Since the critically acclaimed When the camellia blooms (2019)KBS dramas have largely faded from public memory. Although the Korea-Khitan War had a major impact in 2023, it was more of a brief spark than a lasting return.
This year, even with titles aimed at a middle-aged audience such as For the Aquila brothers AND Our golden daysKBS dramas failed to break through. In particular, Walking on Thin Ice and Twelve, both starring top-tier actors, failed disastrously, racking up losses of over KRW 10 billion and sparking internal disputes over liability.
KBS has even restructured its programming strategy, moving away from weekday dramas. However, regaining the trust of viewers remains a colossal task. Critics are now wondering whether KBS should hold the drama’s awards ceremony.
As it stands, the potential nominees for KBS’s Daesang are likely to come from the weekend family drama lineup, actors who have had consistent but unspectacular performances throughout the year.
Sources: naver
