[Introduction] 2013 SBS Entertainment Awards – Running Men in a Star Filled Jungle

Previously on Day Two of the live blog jam, we brought you the 2013 MBC Entertainment Awards and the 2013 SBS Gayo Daejun. Now it’s time to jump over to SBS to see who will come out on top on the 2013 SBS Entertainment Awards. Get ready for another three hours of live streaming, award speeches, zany performances, and usual trademark cynical written commentary. Will Yoo Jae Suk be able to win the “Grand Award” for the third year running or will he be beaten by the star of the jungle, Kim Byung Man? Perhaps Kang Ho Dong will make his triumphant return? Only one way to find out.

Note: Please Go To The Live Blog Page To See Our Live Commentary Of The 2013 SBS Entertainment Awards

2013 SBS Entertainment Awards

The SBS Entertainment Awards is probably the hardest one to predict. In previous years, it would have probably been safe to say that SBS’s flagship Sunday program, “Running Man,” would have safely taken up most of the awards, but it has faced much stiffer competition in the last two years. “Running Man’s” charismatic MC, Yoo Jae Suk, has won the SBS Grand Award for two years running and in total has won it four times over the course of five years. The biggest question on everyone’s lips will be if Yoo Jae Suk manages to make it three years running or if his award-winning streak will come to an unfortunate halt. 

In that case, who else has a good chance of winning the “Grand Award?” Well, the featured image for this image will give you a clue as to who I believe has a good chance to win the “Grand Award” this year. Let’s start with Kim Byung Man. In 2012, Kim Byung Man won the high excellence for variety shows while his program “Kim Byung Man’s Law of The Jungle” beat out “Running Man” to take the “High Excellence Program Award.” With Kim Byung Man continuing to put in a strong performance over the year, there is a reasonable chance that we could see him moving up the ladder and taking the “Grand Award” this year. 

The other nominee with a fighting chance is Kang Ho Dong. While “Barefoot Friends” was hardly what you call a success, his Saturday program “Star King” has managed to keep in the ratings war against long time rival MBC “Infinity Challenge” while being well clear of KBS’s “Immortal Song 2.” A lot of this ratings rise can be attributed to the return of the energetic MC himself given that the show rarely managed to get anywhere near “Infinity Challenge” during the period where Kang Ho Dong was absent from the show. Whether this singular performance will be enough to offset the disappointment of “Barefoot friends” remains to be seen.

Finally, let’s quickly look at “Running Man” and Yoo Jae Suk. For the most part the show has been a steady performer over the year. While its combined rating with its Sunday partner show has seen the whole Sunday show rate below 10% for most of the year, individual ratings for “Running Man” itself have continued to remain competitive against its rivals. Despite that, it has still dropped in ratings year on year. A lot of that drop can be attributed to the amazing success of MBC’s new line of Sunday programs (“Daddy! Where Are We Going”  + “Real Men”). In recent weeks, however, it did appear like “Running Man” was starting to regain some lost ground with the slight drop in interest in MBC’s shows. But again, it has been dealt another hit with the success of KBS’s “1 Night, 2 Day Season 3.” Given that Yoo Jae Suk’s chances for a “Grand Award” rests on the success of “Running Man,” this slight loss of steam might just be enough that SBS decides to go with one of the other candidates. 

Still, it doesn’t look like either “Running Man” or Yoo Jae Suk will be losing the “Viewers’ Choice” awards. As we previously reported, both show and MC are leading the viewer polls by a wide margin and is certain to win those respective viewer choice awards come Monday. 

The awards for the Runners, the Jungle and the Stars, the 2013 SBS Entertainment Awards live blog will kick off  on December 30 starting at 8:00PM KST. We’ll be setting up and chatting until the actual show starts at 8:55PM. You can see what time that is in your respective time zones by going to this page. I hope to see you all there!