Gong Yoo attends the 'Train To Busan' photocall during the 69th Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2016 in Cannes, France. (Photo : Getty Images/Andreas Rentz)
"Goblin" captured the hearts of many Korean drama lovers as evidenced by its growing popularity. Gong Yoo's tvN drama retained its top spot on a TV popularity chart for the second consecutive week with "Legend of the Blue Sea" trailing behind at number two.
Gong's fantasy drama series continued to reign over South Korean programs with an impressive score on the Content Power Index for the period from Dec. 5 to Dec. 11. "Goblin" nabbed the first spot with a score of 313.9 points, according to CJ E&M and Nielsen Korea, as cited by Yonhap News.
The tvN production even bested its own record of 302.8 points posted during its premiere weekend on Dec. 1. Meanwhile, Lee Min Ho's drama "Legend of the Blue Sea" landed at second place with 254.1 points.
Lee's fantasy mermaid series previously topped the Content Power Index for several weeks prior the release of "Goblin." However, the SBS drama failed to surpass the tvN production following mixed reviews that included plagiarism claims.
Apart from "Goblin" and "Legend of the Blue Sea," the talk show "Radio Star" also nabbed a spot on the top three of the Content Power Index with its 233.7 points. Other TV dramas such as the medical series "Dr. Romantic" and the MBC's "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo" also ranked on the said TV popularity chart's top ten.
In other news, "Goblin" registered its highest TV rating since the tvN drama released its first episode in early December. Viewership shares rose to 12.9 percent after Eun Tak (Kim Go Eun) gave the titular character Shin (Gong) a surprise kiss in episode 6, according to Korean news outlet Chosun.
Gong's drama is also expected to reach the 15 percent TV rating mark in the coming weeks. Moreover, given its unique storyline and star-studded cast that includes "My Girl" actor Lee Dong Wook, Yoo In Na and more, speculations indicated that the tvN series may even hit a 20 percent viewership rating during its 16-episode run.
"Goblin" airs every Friday and Saturday on tvN. Watch a teaser clip for the upcoming episode below:
