2025? It was a wild ride for K-Dramas, fam! We saw new ‘it’ stars totally **slay** and K-Drama’s global reign continue, but sis, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Some massive, multi-billion won productions? They totally **flopped**, and the ratings game was *not* for the faint of heart. Let’s spill the tea on 2025’s drama report card!
First up, SBS was serving nothing but hits on their Friday-Saturday slot! From the romance of ‘My Perfect Secretary’ to ‘Treasure Island’ and ‘Gwigung’, they consistently hit 10%+ ratings. Even with Namgoong Min’s ‘Our Movie’, Yoon Kye-sang’s ‘Try’, and Go Hyun-jung’s ‘Mantis’ having slightly lower numbers, the genre diversity kept the loyal fans locked in. And get this, after ‘Cosmic Merry Me’ hit 9%, ‘Taxi Driver 3’ is currently on fire, snatching #1 in its time slot! Talk about **daebak**!
Meanwhile, KBS really fumbled the bag this year. Their Wednesday-Thursday dramas? *Canceled*. Literally zero dramas hit 5% until August, featuring titles like ‘Kick Kick Kick Kick’ and ‘I Took the Male Lead’s First Night’. Moving to Saturday-Sunday, they dropped a massive 30 billion won bomb, ‘Twelve’, starring Ma Dong-seok, which started at 8% but crashed and burned to 2%. Ouch! Lee Young-ae’s ‘Eun-su’s Good Day’, another highly anticipated show, barely scratched 5%. Can Nam Ji-hyun and Moon Sang-min’s upcoming romance sageuk ‘Beloved Thief’ turn things around? Fingers crossed!
MBC also struggled hard on Fridays and Saturdays. Things got so rough they even aired ‘Casino’ from Disney+ that was two years old! Only a few like ‘Motel California’ and Seo Kang-joon’s ‘Undercover High School’ (for which he won his first Daesang, **visuals** for days!) hit 5%, but no major hits. But get ready, because MBC is gearing up for 2026 with ’21st Century Grand Duchess’, starring global **it girl** IU and the currently **bias-wrecking** Byun Woo-seok! This one’s going to be epic!
Now for the cable channels! tvN was serving up the best mini-series. After a slow start with ‘Ask the Stars’, they bounced back with ‘Someday Wise Resident Life’, ‘Unknown Seoul’, and ‘CEO Shin’s Project’. But the real **MVP** was ‘Tyrant’s Chef’ starring YoonA and Lee Chae-min! This show was a *syndrome*, hitting 10%+ by episode 4 and absolutely *dominating* global Netflix. Lee Jun-ho’s ‘Typhoon Co.’ also kept the ratings high, and Jung Kyung-ho’s ‘Pro Bono’ is doing great too! ENA had a comeback moment with ‘Good Woman Bu Semi’, a unique romance thriller that gained serious buzz and hit 7.1%! ‘UDT: Our Neighborhood Special Forces’ also did well.
Over at JTBC, they were strong on Saturday-Sunday! Lee Je-hoon’s ‘Art of Negotiation’ smashed 10%+, followed by a string of 5%+ hits like ‘More Beautiful Than Heaven’ and ‘The Story of Kim, a Department Head Who Commutes to His Seoul Home’. But their Friday dramas were giving nothing, sadly.
And the OTT platforms? Netflix was absolutely *crushing it*! ‘You Have Done Well’ was the undisputed queen of 2025, topping global non-English TV shows for NINE weeks straight! It was named the #1 K-Drama of 2025 by SCMP and a top series by IMDb. And of course, ‘Squid Game 3’ concluded its epic journey, keeping everyone talking. Disney+ seemed a bit down, but TVING was definitely smiling!
What a year, right?! Which drama was your ultimate **bias**? Let us know!
Reported by Seoul Wire | Seoul, South Korea 🇰🇷
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