Classified as Daesang (Grand Prize) contenders for the 2025 ‘SBS Acting Awards’: Go Hyun-jung of ‘Mantis’ (from left), Lee Je-hoon of ‘Taxi Driver 3’, Park Hyung-sik of ‘Treasure Island’. Photo Sports Kyunghyang DB
‘The poor get poorer and the rich get richer’. The well-off have become even wealthier, while the less fortunate can barely keep up appearances. This is the scene of the terrestrial broadcasters’ shrinking drama market, especially at the year-end ‘Acting Awards’ ceremonies.
The year-end Acting Awards of the three terrestrial broadcasters will raise the curtain on the 30th, starting with MBC. MBC will hold the ‘MBC Acting Awards’ at 8:50 p.m. on the 30th, and KBS and SBS will stage their ‘Acting Awards’ the following day, the 31st, at 7:10 p.m. (KBS) and 8:50 p.m. (SBS), respectively.
It is meant to take stock of a year of terrestrial dramas, but it has long since become a sparse, cramped affair. As drama slots have dwindled, the pool of works to nominate in each category has shrunk, and amid the intensifying onslaught of OTT platforms, stars have decamped, leaving the scene far less dazzling than before.
Classified as Daesang (Grand Prize) contenders for the 2025 ‘KBS Acting Awards’: Ahn Jae-wook of ‘Please Take Care of the Five Eagles!’ (from left), Lee Young-ae of ‘Eun-su Good Day’, Lee Tae-ran of ‘Splendid Days’. Photo Sports Kyunghyang DB
Yet even among them, the mood differs. SBS, which at least had a few titles to save face, has the trappings of a proper ceremony; KBS and MBC, by contrast, are left with lineups that feel shy of even being called Daesang-caliber. With the rise of the Baeksang and Blue Dragon Awards that honor cable and series, their position has been further diminished, and conversely, the argument that the terrestrial networks should merge into a single awards show to regain competitiveness is gaining traction.
Enjoying relatively plentiful fare, SBS announced five Daesang nominees early. In Korean alphabetical order: Go Hyun-jung of ‘Mantis’, Park Hyung-sik of ‘Treasure Island’, Yoon Kye-sang of ‘Try’, Lee Je-hoon of ‘Taxi Driver 3’, and Han Ji-min of ‘My Perfect Secretary’. The lineup balances craft and commercial appeal, and opinion holds that whoever takes the Daesang, it would be a razor-thin race unlikely to draw much second-guessing.
KBS, which has shifted its focus from early star casting and flashy mise-en-scene to family dramas built on empathy and idea-driven one-offs, is seeing a slate of nominees that befits that direction. Among the few titles that managed ratings returns, listed by casts in Korean alphabetical order, are Ahn Jae-wook and Uhm Ji-won of ‘Please Take Care of the Five Eagles!’, Lee Young-ae of ‘Eun-su Good Day’, and Chun Ho-jin and Lee Tae-ran of ‘Splendid Days’. Ma Dong-seok of the ambitiously scheduled ‘Twelve’ lost face with a meager 2.4% rating.
Classified as Daesang (Grand Prize) contenders for the 2025 ‘MBC Acting Awards’: Kang Tae-oh of ‘A Moon Flows Through This River’ (from left), Seo Kang-joon of ‘Undercover High School’, Jung Kyung-ho of ‘Labor Attorney Noh Mu-jin’. Photo Sports Kyunghyang DB
MBC fares somewhat better than KBS, but its former reputation as a ‘drama kingdom’ has greatly faded. Only a handful topped the benchmark 5% that counts as respectable ratings: ‘Motel California’, ‘Undercover High School’, ‘Labor Attorney Noh Mu-jin’, and ‘A Moon Flows Through This River’. From those titles, Kang Tae-oh and Kim Se-jeong, Seo Kang-joon and Lee Se-young, and Jung Kyung-ho are cited as likely nominees.
Last year, SBS awarded the Daesang to Jang Na-ra of ‘Good Partner’, MBC to Han Suk-kyu of ‘Such an Intimate Traitor’, and KBS to Lee Soon-jae of ‘Dog Sound’. All three broadcasters drew attention with their own narratives and sentiment, but whether this year can live up to that weight remains to be seen. With the ceremonies imminent, the year is ending with more apprehension than anticipation.
