With a recent wave of high-quality dramas, variety shows, and general programming, Korean broadcast station SBS is celebrating their recent successes compared with their competition.

According to AGB Nielsen Korea, SBS's weekly dramas are putting up a strong showing versus their often more-hyped competitors. Both of their weekday dramas have pushed out their competition to take the #1 spot in the living room, with the Monday-Tuesday drama 'Queen of Ambition' (19.7%) triumphing over MBC's 'The Horse Healer' (18.1%) and KBS's 'Advertisement Genius Lee Tae Baek' (3.9%).

Perhaps most surprisingly of all, the station's Wednesday-Thursday drama, 'Wind Blows in Winter', has pushed aside the incredibly hyped 'Iris 2' and '7th Grade Civil Servant' to take first place with recent ratings of 13.4%, versus 10.8% for 'Iris 2' and 12.5% for '7th Grade Civil Servant'.

The news is even better on the variety front, where SBS is continuing their strong showing. On Mondays, 'Healing Camp' is proving to be the top dog in the race, with its most recent rating of 10.7% trumping its competitors, KBS's 'Hello' and MBC's 'Talk Club Actors' (which is said to be on its way out).

On Tuesdays, SBS seems to have a solid start with its brand-new variety program, 'Incarnation', featuring actress Kim Hee Sun, MC Shin Dong Yup, and Yoon Jong Shin. The first episode, aired on the 19th, recorded 8.4% in ratings, beating out its competitor, KBS's 'Moonlight Prince' (3.5%).

'Laws of the Jungle 2', despite its controversy, maintains its strong grip on Fridays, handily beating out MBC's 'Birth of a Great Star 3' weekly. On Saturdays, 'Star King' has finally caught up to its eternal rival, MBC's 'Infinity Challenge', with both variety shows scoring 13.7% in the past week.

With recent ratings of 16.7%, SBS's 'Good Sunday' variety block - 'Running Man' and 'K-Pop Star 2' - maintained its lead against KBS and MBC in the most competitive timeslot of them all, with KBS's 'Happy Sunday' ('Qualifications of Men' and '1 Night 2 Days Season 2') scoring 13.0% and MBC's 'Dad, Where Are You Going' scoring 11.4%.

Even more encouragingly, SBS's Sunday lineup will soon be buoyed by the addition of the other 'nation's MC', Kang Ho Dong, leaving interested viewers to speculate on how the current playing field will change, if at all.

The head of SBS's variety department, Lee Chang Tae, said ratings were merely the result of good programming. "We believe that our efforts in creating value-oriented variety programs and dramas have been accepted by the audience," he said. "Although there were benefits from the long-term strikes that took place at our competition, it is the viewers who determine what to watch. In the end, viewers choose good programs."

Source: Herald Economy via Nate