SBS에스비에스

SBS (에스비에스, the Seoul Broadcasting System) is South Korea's largest private broadcaster and one of its three terrestrial networks, after KBS and MBC. It was founded in Seoul on November 14, 1990, began regular radio broadcasts in March 1991 and launched SBS TV on December 1, 1991; it went national in May 1995 through regional affiliates in Busan, Daejeon, Daegu and Gwangju.¹ It became legally known as SBS in March 2000, and its shares trade on the Korea Exchange under the code 034120. SBS TV is channel 6, and the network is based in Mok-dong in Seoul's Yangcheon District.¹

SBS dramas hold two of the 16 places in DabPop's ranking of the highest-rated K-dramas: Sandglass (모래시계, 1995), whose 24 episodes peaked at 64.5% for fourth place, and Lovers in Paris (파리의 연인, 2004) at 56.3% (a TNS Media Korea figure).² Among webtoon adaptations, SBS has the top two: Agent Kim Reactivated (김부장, 2026) at 23.1% and Taxi Driver (모범택시, 2021–26) at 21.0%.³

SBS signed to air two pre-produced dramas from JS Picture on January 17, 2008, and in March 2019 pulled Big Issue from the air for a week after unedited footage went out in an episode.⁴⁵ It sold The Hymn of Death to Netflix in 2018, ending an informal agreement among the three networks not to sell newly aired series to it, and since May 10, 2017 SBS and MBC have split drama episodes in two around a one-minute ad break.⁵