Even Top Actors Are Unemployed? K-Drama Industry Crisis Worsening
The unemployment crisis in the K-drama industry is intensifying and even top actors are complaining about having no jobs
“In many cases, a project falls through even with a good director, a good writer and good actors”, director Shin Won-ho, who created the famous “Reply” series and “Hospital Playlist” series, said in a video on the “channel fullmoon” YouTube channel. Hearing that, actor Jung Kyung-ho commented, “I heard 6-7 projects failed recently”, adding “There was a script I liked but it fell through, unlikely. That’s why I’m taking a rest silently”.
Concerns about the slump of the K-drama industry continued this year. Appearing on JTBC’s “Reunion of Actors” broadcast in March, Kim Ji-seok said, “I’m aware of the slump in the K-drama industry this year. Today is January 1st, and I’m getting more anxious as I don’t know if I have any job to do this year”.
CEO A of a company recently told News1, “What makes me feel so clearly about this slump is that I can remember clearly how many movies and dramas in which our actors have been cast by the second half of this year and the first half of next year”, adding “The situation is really bad as there are only about 10 projects, including terrestrial channels and OTTs”.
“There are no projects”, “Broadcast has been delayed”, “The project has fallen through”, etc., are what actors are saying about the current K-drama industry. Some cannot confirm whether the dramas they appear in will air or many don’t have any project even though they want to act due to the significant decrease in the number of drama productions. As such, many believe that the drama production market may collapse.
Broadcasting companies are reducing the number of dramas. Currently, MBC only produces Fri-Sat dramas except for daily series, while SBS only makes Fri-Sat dramas. KBS is doing both Wed-Thu and Mon-Tue dramas but in a flexible way. Even though the channels for drama broadcast have diversified with the emergence of OTT services, the number of dramas that successfully aired has declined a lot.
Secretary-General Bae Dae-sik of the Korea Drama Producer Association said to News1, “We produced 141 dramas in 2022, but last year, the number decreased to 123 drams. What’s more serious is that only 105 dramas will broadcast this year.” Broadcasting companies insist that they cannot increase the number of drama projects. Drama staff B said, “Broadcasting companies suffer big losses no matter what drama they air. They only pay for parts of the production cost but advertisement revenue cannot even cover that due to the decrease in TV commercials”.
In the case of terrestrial channels, advertising revenue decreased 21.8% in 2024. As such, broadcasting companies are focusing on the production of cost-effective entertainment programs rather than dramas with high production costs. Drama PD C shared, “The crisis is so serious that there are rumors of medium-sized production companies closing down”.
CEO D from a small company added, “Broadcasters have no money, so drama production companies are only looking for actors who bring in a lot of advertisements”. Production company CEO E also stated, “Actors who are doing well get more opportunities, while those who haven’t had any projects are getting fewer chances”.
