Top 20 Kdrama with the highest ratings in the first half of 2021

The first six months of 2021 have passed.  This is the time when the Korean small screen received countless impressive works of various genres.  Looking back at the ratings race of central and cable stations in the first half of the year, the top names are all works with coverage beyond the Korean border.  However, there are also some movies that have extremely high ratings but are not too popular.

Here are the top 20 movies with the highest ratings in the first half of 2021 with 10 names coming from the central station, the rest are from cable stations (counting the episode with the highest rating).

Central Station (KBS, SBS, MBC)

1.  Penthouse 2 (SBS): 29.2%
2.  Penthouse 3 (SBS): 19.5%
3.  Taxi Driver (SBS): 16.0%
4.  Royal Secret Agent (KBS): 14.0%
5.  River When The Moon Rises (KBS): 10.0%
6.  Sell Your Haunted House (KBS): 6.9%
7.  Racket Boys (SBS): 6.2%
8.  Delayed Justice (SBS): 6.2%
9.  Youth Of May (KBS): 5.7%
10.  Hello, Me!  (KBS): 5.1%

It can be seen that the first half of 2021 is a time to make money with SBS.  Not only owning 3 top-rated films, but all 5 of their top works have wide coverage throughout Asian countries.  KBS also owns 5 works, but only River When The Moon Rises and Youth Of May are really interested by international audiences.

Cable stations (tvN, JTBC, OCN, MBN, …)

1. Mr. Queen (tvN): 17.371%
2. Vincenzo (tvN): 14.636%
3. The Uncanny Counter (OCN): 10.999%
4. Mine (tvN): 10.512%
5. Hospital Playlist 2 (tvN): 10.071%
6. Bossam: Steal The Fate (MBN): 8.959%
7. Law School (JTBC): 6.891%
8. Mouse (tvN): 6.672%
9. Sisyphus: The Myth (JTBC): 6.667%
10. Beyond Evil (JTBC): 5.991%

tVN is still the dominant station in the first half of 2021 while its biggest competitor, JTBC, has not been able to create a big buzz in the past 6 months.  OCN and MBN also took a new step when recording record ratings in the history of these stations with The Uncanny Counter and Bossam: Steal The Fate.

Source: K14