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| Kim Soo-hyun, left, and Jun Ji-hyun appeared in SBS drama "My Love from the Star," which was named as the most popular television program here in the year-end Content Power Index round-up. / Courtesy of SBS |
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SBS hit drama "My Love from the Star" was named as the most popular television program here in the year-end Content Power Index's (CPI) top 10.
As more and more people not just watch dramas and variety shows on traditional TV set but via other platforms such as mobile and on-demand, a need has arisen to measure the popularity of contents in a new way.
The CPI is a weekly-based measurement of every television program in the country developed two years ago by CJ E&M and research firm AGB Nielsen Media Research.
Unlike existing viewers' ratings indexes that measure the number of television viewers using their home TV sets, the CPI monitors more detailed variables, including numbers of mobile and Internet streaming viewers and online "buzz" in social media.
"My Love" is a sci-fi drama, telling the romance between an alien (played by Kim Soo-hyun), who has lived in Korea for the past 400 years and a top actress (played by Jun Ji-hyun), aired from December 2013 to February this year. It was top in the year-end CPI chart with 344 points, followed by cable network tvN's recently ended workplace drama "Misaeng" and another SBS romance drama "It's Okay, That's Love."
In addition to its tremendous popularity here, "My Love" also created a huge sensation overseas, particularly in China, making Kim one of the top grossing commercial stars in both countries.
In the top-10 chart, "Misaeng" was the only program aired by a cable network.
The drama, which depicts the everyday lives of office workers and precarious interns at a trading company, captured the second highest position with 270.8 points. Amid a sluggish economy, the 20-episode drama — based on Yoon Tae-ho's online cartoon of the same title — created a sensation in Korea, fostering sympathy for hundreds of thousands of job seekers and office workers.
MBC TV's long-running variety show "Infinite Challenge" was the only variety show among a top 10 swept by dramas. Though two of the show's six hosts — Gil and Noh Hong-chul — left the show this year after convictions for drunk driving, "Infinite Challenge" has proved to be a massive favorite with audiences, ranking eighth with 237.6 points.
First launched in 2005, the show, comprised of five hosts including the country's top comedian and emcee Yoo Jae-suk, is assigned a different challenge — to be a bobsleigh athlete and running a race with moving train among others — in each episode.
SBS dominated whole chart
Overall, viewers mostly loved the dramas of SBS, one of the country's major broadcasters alongside MBC and KBS.
With the exception of "Misaeng," MBC's variety show "Infinite Challenge" and historical period drama "Empress Ki," and KBS' romance drama "Discovery of Love," six dramas aired through SBS swept the rest of the top 10 chart.
They were "It's Okay. That's Love" (third), "God's Gift" (fourth), "Pinocchio" (fifth), "3 Days" (sixth) and "Doctor Stranger" (ninth).
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