Yonhap News TV remains top-rated channel for 8 consecutive months

SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) -- Yonhap News TV has remained the most-watched cable news channel in South Korea for the eighth straight month, Nielsen data showed Friday.

The Yonhap News Agency-affiliated cable TV channel, "News Y," posted an average viewership of 0.959 percent last month, the highest since its launch in late 2011, according to data from Nielson Korea.

Yonhap TV has been the top-watched news channel since last August, beating its South Korean competitor YTN.

It also renewed its viewership record for a fourth straight month since December.

Yonhap TV's monthly viewership in March also beat the entertainment cable channel tvN for the first time since its inauguration.

The figure makes it the fifth most popular paid platform in the country.

The channel's political talk show programs are believed to be the main factor for the soaring viewership as the people showed higher interest in political developments before the upcoming parliamentary elections on April 13.

Among the talk shows, "News No. 1 Address" attracted 2.65 percent viewership on March 19 while "Ko Seong-kuk's Damdam Tata" received 2.314 percent on March 23, the highest viewership among the Yonhap TV programs.

A Yonhap TV official said many TV viewers appeared to have opted for Yonhap TV channel amid the rapidly changing political situation and a flood of political issues.

"We will reward our viewers' support with good news programs including the coverage of the parliamentary elections," the official said.
(END)