Descendants of the Sun, Goblin still no. 1 in drama ranking based on peak ratings

Dramatop is almost done! After the changes in the schedule since January 30, we have decided to cut one scheduled post (Top 20 Highest Rated Episodes) of the series. Nevertheless, that ranking will be available on our website’s Dramatop page which will be realized once we launch our official website (kdramapal.com) at the end of this month or by early March. For now, it means this ranking (Top 10 Dramas by Peak Rating) is the last for this year.

Descendants of the Sun is on top again, and all the 10 highest-rated dramas in 2016 are also on this ranking. DOTS, Romantic Doctor, Remember, Neighborhood Lawyer, and Monster achieved their peak ratings in their final episodes while the rest recorded their highest ratings one to five episodes before the finale or even within the first 10 episodes.

Moonlight Drawn by Clouds and Legend of the Blue Sea posted their highest record on the pre-final episode. There’s nothing much to say about Moonlight since its finale still obtained over 20% in ratings. For Legend, however, the fact that its episode 19 (not episode 20) recorded the peak rating is disappointing. We don’t mean to badmouth LOTBS in this post but we do point out that its ratings fall short of expectations.

We also have dramas that reached their peak ratings in earlier episodes. That is not really good because it means the remaining episodes have lower ratings. Such is the case for Jealousy Incarnate and W.

Descendants of the Sun (episode 16, 38.8%)
Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim (episode 20, 27.6%)
Moonlight Drawn By Clouds (episode 17, 23.3%)
Doctors (episode 15, 21.3%)
Legend of the Blue Sea (episode 19, 21.0%)
Remember (episode 20, 20.3%)
Neighborhood Lawyer Jo Deul-ho (episode 20, 17.3%)
Monster (episode 50, 14.1%)
W (episode 7, 13.8%)
Jealousy Incarnate (episode 10, 13.2%)

In cable category, Goblin is still number 1 and as a result, Signal is still number 2. Apologies for my wording. Does it sound like I am waiting for Signal to top a certain list? It has no other chance to be on top because this list is already the last. Much of the praise really go to Goblin which almost broke the record of Reply 1988‘s peak rating of 18.80%!

Seven of the 10 dramas on this list recorded their peak ratings in their final episodes. It means, in general, our top 10 cable dramas have succeeded in keeping the audience’s interest until the last episode. Cheese in the Trap and The K2 obtained their peak ratings in episode 9 and 6, respectively. Dear My Friends, meanwhile, attained its all-time high in episode 15.

Goblin (episode 16, 18.68%)
Signal (episode 16, 12.54%)
Oh Hae Young Again (episode 18, 9.99%)
Dear My Friends (episode 15, 8.09%)
Cheese in the Trap (episode 9, 7.10%)
The K2 (episode 6, 6.64%)
The Good Wife (episode 16, 6.23%)
Drinking Solo (episode 16, 5.02%)
38 Task Force (episode 16, 4.56%)
Let’s Fight Ghost (episode 16, 4.31%)

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 & TVING)

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