Broadcaster Yoo Jae-suk has risen to the top of the October variety show brand reputation rankings. Lee Sun-min and Haha followed closely behind, forming the top tier.
The Korea Enterprise Reputation Research Institute analyzed 64,298,123 big data points of 67 variety stars from September 3 to October 3, 2026, revealing that Yoo Jae-suk ranked first in the October variety star brand reputation. This represents a 0.91% decrease compared to 64,890,875 big data points from September.
The brand reputation index is an indicator calculated by extracting brand big data, analyzing consumer behavior into participation value, communication value, media value, and social value, and applying weights. This variety star brand reputation analysis focused on participation, media, communication, and community indices, while also reflecting brand monitor analysis to check consumer positive/negative reactions and brand value evaluation analyzing relationships with consumers.
The top-ranked Yoo Jae-suk brand recorded a participation index of 304,921, media index of 552,069, communication index of 2,425,950, and community index of 1,305,304, resulting in a brand reputation index of 4,588,244. Although it dropped 4.60% compared to September’s brand reputation index of 4,809,272, it recorded the highest index overall.
Second place went to Lee Sun-min. The Lee Sun-min brand recorded a participation index of 188,243, media index of 237,316, communication index of 1,109,058, and community index of 810,704, resulting in a brand reputation index of 2,345,321. This is a 29.08% decrease compared to 3,307,041 in September.
Haha rose to 3rd place with a brand reputation index that increased by 39.00% compared to last month. The Haha brand recorded a participation index of 52,246, media index of 228,720, communication index of 1,102,456, and community index of 556,872, totaling 1,940,293. It saw a significant surge compared to September’s brand reputation index of 1,395,858, placing it in the top tier.
Fourth place was taken by Joo Woo-jae. The Joo Woo-jae brand recorded a participation index of 77,126, media index of 140,601, communication index of 883,493, and community index of 760,199, yielding a brand reputation index of 1,861,420. This is a 28.93% increase compared to 1,443,700 in September.
Fifth place is Tak Jae-hoon. The Tak Jae-hoon brand recorded a participation index of 84,518, media index of 120,477, communication index of 1,221,692, and community index of 309,174, achieving a brand reputation index of 1,735,860. This is a 34.05% increase from 1,294,976 in September.
The top 30 variety star brand reputation rankings for October are as follows: Yoo Jae-suk, Lee Sun-min, Haha, Joo Woo-jae, Tak Jae-hoon, Shin Dong-yup, Kim Jong-kook, Ahn Jung-hwan, Seo Jang-hoon, Huh Kyung-hwan, Yoo Young-woo, Kim Jong-min, Kim Dong-hyun, Kim Sook, Kim Won-hoon, Kim Jun-ho, Jang Do-yeon, Jung Jun-ha, Kang Ho-dong, Kim Gu-ra, Kim Young-chul, Kwak Beom, Lee Sang-min, Lee Soo-geun, Defconn, Jun Hyun-moo, Yang Se-chan, Jung Hyung-don, Lee Kyung-kyu, and Lee Ji-hye.
Koo Chang-hwan, director of the Korea Enterprise Reputation Research Institute, stated, “As a result of the October 2026 brand big data analysis for variety star brand reputation, the Yoo Jae-suk brand ranked first.”
He added, “Analyzing the variety star brand category, it decreased by 0.91% compared to September’s big data of 64,890,875,” and explained, “Looking at the detailed analysis, brand consumption fell 3.74%, brand issues fell 9.27%, brand communication rose 5.33%, and brand diffusion fell 5.21%.”
Regarding the Yoo Jae-suk brand, Director Koo noted, “Link analysis showed high rates for ‘talk, consistent, worry’, while keyword analysis showed high rates for ‘How Do You Play?, national MC, cold and flu’. The positive/negative ratio analysis for the Yoo Jae-suk brand showed a positive ratio of 91.39%.”
