5 highest-rated Mon-Tue dramas in 2016

Before anything else, I would like to give some background regarding the drama airing schedule in Korea. This is for some international fans who don’t know yet (or those who didn’t bother to know) how the schedule is like for Korean dramas. I thought of this after reading some comments in streaming sites (in Viu for example) asking when the next episode of a certain drama is going to be released.

TV stations in Korea air two episodes of a drama every week. At present, the three big networks (KBS, MBC, and SBS) have Mondays & Tuesdays and Wednesdays & Thursdays reserved for all their prime-time dramas that start airing at around 10 pm Korean Standard Time (KST). tvN has the Mon-Tue and Fri-Sat schedule at 11 pm and 8:30 pm KST, respectively. JTBC also have the Fri-Sat schedule at the same time. What about OCN? It airs a fewer number of dramas each year compared to other networks so it does not have one fixed schedule for kdramas. (Note: these schedules are only for the prime-time dramas that air during the night from Mondays to Saturdays. Free-to-air networks have different schedules for their weekend, daily, and other dramas.)

With this information, one can easily determine when the next episode of a kdrama would be released or how long it would take for one drama to finish its run. 20-episode shows air for 10 weeks or about two months although pre-emptions of some episodes may extend this period by a week or two.

Now let’s move on to the ranking of Mon-Tue dramas (for FTA television only). MBC, SBS, and KBS aired three, four and five dramas at this schedule last year, respectively. If you have been following Dramatop since January 16, you will notice that all the dramas included in this ranking are also on the list of the 10 highest-rated FTA dramas in 2016.

5th highest-rated Mon-Tue drama: Monster (9.73 %)

Network: MBC Director: Joo Sung-woo Writer: Jang Young-chul and Jung Kyung-soon Main Cast: Kang Ji-hwan, Sung Yu-ri, Park Ki-woong & Claudia Kim Broadcast Period: March 28 – Sep 20, 2016 (Mon-Tue) Time-slot Rivals: Neighborhood Lawyer Jo Deul-ho, Beautiful Mind, Moonlight Drawn By Clouds, Jackpot, Doctors & Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo

4th highest-rated Mon-Tue drama: Neighborhood Lawyer Jo Deul-ho (12.88 %)

Network: KBS Director: Lee Jeong-seob & Lee Eun-jin Writer: Lee Hyang-hee Main Cast: Park Shin-yang, Kang So-ra, Ryu Soo-young & Park Sol-mi Broadcast Period: March 28 – May 31, 2016 (Mon-Tue) Time-slot Rivals: Jackpot & Monster

3rd highest-rated Mon-Tue drama: Moonlight Drawn By Clouds (18.29 %)

Network: KBS Director: Kim Sung-yoon & Baek Sang-hoon Writer: Kim Min-jung & Im Ye-jin Main Cast: Park Bo-gum & Kim Yoo-jung Broadcast Period: August 22 – October 18, 2017 (Mon-Tue) Time-slot Rivals: Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, Monster & Woman with a Suitcase

2nd highest-rated Mon-Tue drama: Doctors (18.41 %)

Network: SBS Director: Oh Choong-hwan Writer: Ha Myung-hee Main Cast: Kim Rae-woon, Park Shin-hye, Yoon Kyun-sang & Lee Sung-kyung Broadcast Period: June 20 – August 23, 2016 (Mon-Tue) Time-slot Rivals: Beautiful Mind & Monster

Highest-rated Mon-Tue drama: Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim (20.39 %)

Network: SBS Director: Yoo In-shik Writer: Kang Eun-kyung Main Cast: Han Seok-kyu, Yoo Yeon-seok & Seo Hyun-jin Broadcast Period: November 7, 2016 – January 16, 2017 (Mon-Tue) Time-slot Rivals: Sweet Stranger and Me, Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth, Woman with a Suitcase & Night Light

To see all the list of rankings on one page, go to the Korean Drama Rankings 2016.

(Dramatop: Korean Drama Rankings 2016 is a Kdramapal post series that ranks kdramas based on their nationwide average viewership ratings from Nielsen Korea. It includes in its ranking only prime time dramas that air from Monday to Saturday. We ensure the accuracy of our ranking result by collecting data directly from Nielsen Korea’s website and other reliable sources. If you have feedback or questions regarding the rankings and this post series in general, you can send them to [email protected], message us via Facebook, or comment on the post below.)

(Source of images: KBS, MBC & SBS)

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