The East Palace Takes No. 1 in This Week’s K-Drama Buzz Rankings
The latest Good Data FUNdex TV + OTT drama rankings, updated on July 21, 2026, bring a dramatic change at the top. Following its July 17 Netflix premiere, The East Palace surged three places to claim No. 1, ending Agent Kim Reactivated’s run at the top of the chart.
Meanwhile, the newly premiered romantic comedy Spooky in Love entered the rankings at No. 3, and The Apartment Job made the week’s biggest climb, jumping five places from No. 9 to No. 4.
Unlike television ratings, the FUNdex rankings measure online conversation across news articles, blogs, social media, online communities, and video platforms, providing a snapshot of which dramas audiences are talking about most.
This Week's TV-OTT Drama Buzz Rankings
| Rank | Drama | Platform | Buzz Share | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The East Palace | Netflix | 26.29% | 🟢 ▲ 3 |
| 2 | Agent Kim Reactivated | SBS | 21.88% | 🔴 ▼ 1 |
| 3 | Spooky in Love | tvN | 8.38% | 🆕 NEW |
| 4 | The Apartment Job | JTBC | 6.95% | 🟢 ▲ 5 |
| 5 | See You at Work Tomorrow! | tvN | 6.38% | 🔴 ▼ 3 |
| 6 | Teach You a Lesson | Netflix | 6.32% | 🔴 ▼ 3 |
| 7 | Dream to You | ENA | 4.47% | 🟢 ▲ 3 |
| 8 | The Husband | KBS2 | 4.00% | 🔴 ▼ 1 |
| 9 | A Shop for Killers Season 2 | Disney+ | 2.86% | 🔴 ▼ 1 |
| 10 | The Prosecutor’s Proposal | Wavve | 2.26% | 🆕 NEW |
Note: Because FUNdex measures online discussion rather than television ratings or streaming views, highly anticipated dramas may appear in the rankings before their official premiere if they are generating significant buzz through trailers, promotional events, or casting news. 🆕 New means new to this week’s Top 10 table, not necessarily a newly released K-drama.
What's New This Week
Meanwhile, The Apartment Job made the week’s biggest climb, jumping five spots to No. 4 and continuing the rise in buzz it began last week. Dream to You also gained momentum, climbing three places to No. 7.
Elsewhere, See You at Work Tomorrow!, The Husband and Teach You A Lesson all moved down in this week’s rankings, while Spooky in Love and The Prosecutor’s Proposal entered the Top 10 for the first time.
Three Takeaways
🚀 The East Palace turned anticipation into a commanding premiere-week debut
The East Palace was already generating enough conversation to rank No. 4 before its release, but its July 17 premiere sent its Buzz Share soaring from 5.62% to 26.29%. That 20.67-point increase pushed the Netflix drama into first place and shows how quickly advance interest can translate into widespread discussion once viewers finally begin watching.
📈 Agent Kim Reactivated remains a major hit—even after losing the No. 1 buzz position
Dropping to No. 2 in the TV-OTT rankings does not mean interest in Agent Kim Reactivated has faded. The drama still holds a substantial 21.88% Buzz Share and continues to dominate other measures of success. Its latest episode recorded a 23.1% nationwide rating, with a peak of 26.2%, while Netflix reported 8.2 million views for the latest tracking week. The series remained No. 1 on Netflix’s Non-English TV chart for a third consecutive week, reaching the Top 10 in 73 countries and taking first place in 19.
🔄 Dream to You is gaining momentum at home and across Asia
Dream to You climbed three places to No. 7 in the FUNdex rankings, and its regional streaming performance suggests that the rise may continue. During its opening week on Viu, the romantic comedy ranked No. 1 in Indonesia and Thailand, No. 2 in the Philippines and Hong Kong, and No. 3 in Malaysia and Singapore.Our Take
Together, the results reveal three different paths to K-drama success: an explosive premiere-week conversation surge, sustained domestic and worldwide dominance, and a growing regional breakout driven by strong stars and romantic appeal.
Global Streaming Snapshot
The Apartment Job continued to gain momentum, climbing from No. 10 to No. 5 with 3.3 million views. Teach You a Lesson remained in the Global Top 10 at No. 6 with 2.9 million views, while Spooky in Love entered the chart at No. 8 with 1.7 million views.
| Netflix Global Rank | Drama | Views |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agent Kim Reactivated | 8.2M |
| 2 | The East Palace | 4.9M |
| 5 | The Apartment Job | 3.3M |
| 6 | Teach You a Lesson | 2.9M |
8 | Spooky in Love | 1.7M |
The results show strong overlap between worldwide Netflix viewing and this week’s FUNdex rankings. The East Palace leads domestic online discussion and debuted at No. 2 globally, while Agent Kim Reactivated remains the world’s most-watched non-English Netflix series despite slipping to No. 2 in Korean buzz.
The Apartment Job is also emerging as a sustained success story, climbing sharply in both rankings. Meanwhile, Teach You a Lesson remains internationally popular even as it slipped three places in the domestic buzz chart. Spooky in Love also made an immediate impact, entering both the FUNdex Top 10 and Netflix’s global chart during its premiere week.
Image Source: Netflix
Beyond Netflix
Netflix is not the only platform showing strong international interest in Korean dramas. Prime Video also publishes weekly worldwide rankings for its original series, including a separate chart for non-English titles.
For the week of July 13–19, See You at Work Tomorrow! ranked No. 6 among all Prime Video Original series worldwide and took the No. 1 spot among the platform’s non-English Original series.
That makes its performance especially interesting alongside this week’s FUNdex rankings. Although the drama fell three places to No. 5 in Korean buzz, it remained Prime Video’s most-watched non-English original series globally—another reminder that domestic conversation and international streaming momentum do not always move in the same direction.
Unlike Netflix, Prime Video does not publish view totals, so its rankings cannot be compared directly with Netflix’s audience figures.
Viki releases its most-loved drama rankings monthly, so we’ll return to its viewer favorites when the July list becomes available.
Looking Ahead
With The East Palace now at No. 1 following its premiere-week surge, the next rankings will show whether it can sustain that momentum once the initial release excitement begins to settle.
A Shop for Killers Season 2 arrived on July 22, just after this week’s tracking period, giving it significant room to climb as viewers begin reacting to the new episodes. Spooky in Love and Dream to You are also worth watching after making strong early gains across both domestic buzz and international streaming charts.
The biggest question is whether The East Palace can hold off Agent Kim Reactivated as the SBS drama approaches its finale—or whether another newly released series will make the next major jump.
Keep Watching, Keep Feeling
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Source: Good Data Corporation FUNdex TV + OTT + STAR Online BuzzWorthiness Index (updated July 21, 2026). Netflix Tundum Top 10 Non-English Shows. Amazon News.