Longest-Running Korean Variety Shows and 2026 Ratings

Korean variety shows have almost as many overseas fans as K-dramas, yet simple questions like “what’s the oldest one?” or “is Running Man still on?” get muddled answers online. The winner changes depending on what you count as variety and how you measure popularity.

So this piece sticks to numbers: broadcaster episode records, Nielsen Korea ratings, Gallup Korea polls and Netflix’s official Top 10. Everything is as of October 2026.

What is the longest-running Korean variety show?

There are three right answers, depending on the yardstick. Across all formats it is KBS1’s National Singing Contest. Among music shows it is KBS1’s Gayo Stage. Among real variety shows, the kind where a fixed cast plays games and takes on missions, it is SBS’s Running Man.

National Singing Contest (전국노래자랑, Jeonguk Norae Jarang) was described by Ilgan Sports in August 2026 as Korea’s longest-running entertainment show, now in its 46th year. Each week it travels to a different town, and local residents sing on an outdoor stage. According to Insight, the October 4 episode, filmed at Pyoseon Beach in Seogwipo, Jeju, was episode 2,185 and a 90-minute special. It is no museum piece either: on Sunday, October 25, it drew 6.5% nationwide (Nielsen Korea), fourth among all network programs that day.

Gayo Stage (가요무대) began its regular run on November 18, 1985, with veteran singer Lee Mi-ja on the first episode. Yonhap reported at its 30th anniversary in 2015 that about 24,000 songs had been played on the show by then. In October 2026 it still pulls 5.0% (October 19) and 4.2% (October 26) on Monday nights, per Nielsen Korea.

Running Man started in July 2010 and marked its 16th anniversary in July 2026 (Segye Ilbo). Xports News reported that the April 26 broadcast was the 800th-episode special, and SBS’s official episode page lists the October 25 broadcast as episode 824. In its October report, Gallup Korea referred to it as the country’s longest-running variety show.

📺 Korea's long-running variety shows in numbers (as of October 2026)

Episode numbers come from SBS’s official page for Running Man and from news reports for the others. We left Gayo Stage and I Live Alone blank because we could not confirm them from an official source.

Episode counts make the gap obvious. National Singing Contest has roughly 2.7 times as many episodes as Running Man, even after Running Man’s 16 years on air.

The legend that ended, and the one that came back

Infinite Challenge (무한도전) ran from April 23, 2005 to March 31, 2018: 563 episodes over 4,726 days, according to CBS NoCut News. The same report said it topped Gallup Korea’s monthly favorite-show poll in 48 of the 63 months Gallup had tracked. Running Man, now at 824 episodes, has long since passed that total.

Gag Concert, KBS’s sketch comedy show, came back on November 12, 2023 after a hiatus (Money Today). According to the same outlet, episode 1,162 on February 22, 2026 hit 3.2% nationwide, its best of the year, but after a move to 11 p.m. on Sundays from April 12 it slipped to 1.4% (April 12) and 1.7% (April 19). Its YouTube channel, meanwhile, had 1.17 million subscribers as of February. We cover variety that has moved online in Korean YouTube variety by the numbers.

Is Running Man still airing in 2026?

Yes. It still airs every Sunday on SBS. Episode 824 went out on Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 6:10 p.m. Korea time, according to SBS’s official episode page.

Its home ratings are well below its peak years, though. That night it drew 3.8% nationwide (Nielsen Korea), 13th among network programs. Running Man’s pull shows up more clearly overseas. In Netflix’s official engagement report, Running Man: 2026 logged 400,000 views and 14.5 million hours viewed in the first half of 2026, an audience Korea’s ratings tables never see.

What are the most-watched Korean variety shows in 2026?

On TV, Sunday shows on the big networks still lead. The chart below shows Nielsen Korea’s daily network ratings for variety episodes aired October 23–26, 2026. Treat it as a one-week snapshot, not a year-end ranking. The order changes from week to week.

Sunday, October 25 alone had My Little Old Boy at 9.4%, 2 Days & 1 Night at 7.0%, National Singing Contest at 6.5% and the volleyball coaching show Rookie Coach Kim Yeon-koung 2 at 5.4%. My Little Old Boy was second among all network programs that day and first if you leave out dramas. Elsewhere in the week, I Live Alone scored 4.6% on Friday, and on Saturday Immortal Songs drew 5.3% and Hangout with Yoo 4.5%.

Ratings are only half the story. Korea measures variety shows three ways: how many people watched (시청률, ratings), how many say they like it (preference polls), and how much people talk about it (buzz).

📊 Three ways to rank Korean variety shows, October 2026

In Gallup’s October poll, the overall winner was the drama Doctor X at 9.8%, so even the top variety show sat far behind. Gallup’s September report made the same point: in the second half of the year, variety has been weaker than drama at the very top of the list. For the drama side, read the highest-rated K-dramas of 2026.

Among the long-runners, I Live Alone is in its 13th year in 2026. TV Report said its May 29 episode drew 6.8% in the Seoul metropolitan area, making it the top Friday variety show for the fifth week running. As for You Quiz on the Block, Korea Daily reported that all 37 episodes aired in 2026 had won their time slot in the target demographic, and the episode with Nvidia’s Jensen Huang peaked at 8.3% nationwide.

Which Korean reality shows have been hits on Netflix?

Culinary Class Wars and Physical: 100 lead the list. Both reached No. 1 in Netflix’s global non-English TV Top 10. The chart counts how many weeks Korean unscripted shows spent in that Top 10, from Netflix’s official data.

• Culinary Class Wars season 1 (2024): 6 weeks in the Top 10, 3 at No. 1 (September 16 to October 6, 2024). Peak week 4.9 million views, and 180.7 million hours across its Top 10 weeks.
• Culinary Class Wars season 2 (December 2025): 5 weeks in the Top 10, 2 at No. 1 (December 15–28, 2025). First week 5.5 million views and 21.4 million hours. It kept going into the new year, adding 8.1 million views and 139 million hours in the first half of 2026 alone.
• Physical: 100 season 1 (2023): 6 weeks in the Top 10, 2 at No. 1 (February 6–19, 2023), with 192.63 million hours across those weeks.
• Physical: 100 season 2 (2024): 1 week at No. 1 (March 18–24, 2024), 6.1 million views in its first week.
• Physical: Asia (2025): peaked at No. 3 over 4 weeks in the Top 10, with 9.4 million views in the second half of 2025.

The hours above only add up the weeks a show spent in the Top 10, so they understate total viewing. For the latest week we checked, October 19–25, 2026, no Korean variety show made the non-English TV Top 10 (the drama Doctor X was No. 2). For the bigger picture, see Korean content on Netflix in 2026. Dating shows such as Single’s Inferno season 5 (peak No. 2, 10 million views in the first half of 2026) get their own piece: Korea’s dating reality show boom.

Was The Masked Singer originally Korean?

Yes. It started as MBC’s King of Mask Singer (복면가왕), and FOX’s The Masked Singer in the US is based on that format. We could not find an official count from MBC or a distributor of how many countries have bought it. Counting the national and regional versions listed on English Wikipedia gives more than 50 countries outside Korea, so read that as an estimate from a public list, not an official figure.

Netflix formats are easier to track. Italian and Mexican versions of Physical: 100 premiered in September 2026 and both entered Netflix’s non-English TV Top 10, peaking at No. 5 and No. 4 respectively (Netflix official Top 10 data). Wikipedia also lists Chinese (Keep Running) and Vietnamese versions of Running Man, and Chinese and Vietnamese versions of 2 Days & 1 Night.

What can you do in Seoul as a Korean variety fan?

Three things: watch a recording, eat where the shows ate, or just catch Sunday-night TV in your hotel.

• Join a studio audience (방청, bangcheong): broadcasters post audience application notices on their official websites. Application windows, age limits and whether foreigners can take part differ by show, so check the broadcaster’s official notice first. For the step-by-step process at music shows, see how to attend a K-pop music show, and for broadcaster experiences in general, K-pop experiences in Seoul you can book.
• National Singing Contest recordings: the show records on outdoor stages in a different region every week. Ilgan Sports reported that an August 2026 episode was recorded at Jangchung Arena in Seoul, but Seoul stops are rare and the schedule changes each time, so check the official KBS National Singing Contest website for notices.
• Eat where the shows ate: restaurants run by Culinary Class Wars chefs and places featured on Korean food shows are collected in Seoul restaurants from mukbang and TV shows.