'Doctors' tops weekly TV popularity chart again

(SBS's "Doctors" promotional photo)

The SBS medical drama "Doctors" regained its dominance on a weekly TV popularity chart with over 20 percent in viewership, according to the chart released on Tuesday.

The series topped the Content Power Index with 261.0 points for the week of Aug. 8-14, dethroning "Burning Youth," a variety show featuring single middle-aged stars. 

The reality show shot up to No. 1 in the previous week after two of its cast -- comedian Kim Gook-jin and singer Kang Soo-jin -- revealed they are dating in real life.

The index, developed by entertainment company CJ E&M and media ratings company Nielsen Korea, measures the popularity of TV shows based on the number of views of related news stories, keyword searches and mentions on social media.

"Doctors" depicts a coming-of-age story of Yoo Hye-jung (Park Shin-hye), a female high school bully who slowly changes, influenced by her supportive new homeroom teacher Hong Ji-hong (Kim Rae-won). Years later, they meet again in the cerebral department of a hospital as doctors and fall in love.

It has succeeded in gaining the attention of viewers by calmly following the growth of the two doctors without following the cliches of typical Korean soap operas and villains on the programs.

It also is suspenseful as a medical drama as each episode revolves around highly difficult surgical operations.

"Infinite Challenge," an all-time favorite variety show, came in second with 258.7 points, trailed by the MBC drama series "W" with 238.1 points. The two shows rose two and three places, respectively, from the previous week.

"W" stars actor Lee Jong-suk as a cartoon hero who goes back and forth between the real world and the virtual world of a webtoon.

Coming in fourth and fifth were MBC's singing competition show "King of Masked Singer" and the KBS romance "Uncontrollably Fond" starring Kim Woo-bin and Bae Suzy. (Yonhap)

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