JTBC’s newest Korean drama Itaewon Class premiered Friday night to an impressive nationwide TV rating of 4.983%, which translates to an estimated 1.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen Korea.

The episode of the series became the highest-rated cable drama premiere in January, beating the record of Touch (0.847%) and Money Game (3.520%).

Promotional poster for Itaewon Class

In terms of the number of viewers, Itaewon Class is tied at second place with free-to-air drama Forest, which also pulled in 1.3 million viewers nationwide during its premiere. Dr. Romantic 2 is at the top of the ranking with 2.7 million viewers tuning in to watch its first episode.

A total of six Korean dramas premiered in January. Below is the complete ranking of these dramas based on the number of viewers of their first broadcast (data sourced from Nielsen Korea):

Dr. Romantic 2 (SBS) – 2.7 million Forest (KBS2) – 1.3 million Itaewon Class (JTBC) – 1.3 million Money Game (tvN) – 0.8 million The Game: Towards Zero (MBC) – n/a Touch (Channel A) – n/a

Based on a popular webtoon of the same name, Itaewon Class centers on a young restaurateur, played by Park Seo-joon (What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim), who leads a rebellion against a large food corporation that poses a threat to his business and way of life in Itaewon, a district in Seoul famous for its restaurants and bars that cater to expats. Joining Park Seo-joon in the main cast are Kim Da-mi, Yoo Jae-myung (My Fellow Citizens), and Kwon Na-ra (Dr. Prisoner).

Adapted by Jo Gwang-jin, the author of its original source material, Itaewon Class airs every Friday and Saturday at 11 p.m. KST on JTBC. The series is also available on Netflix.

Meanwhile, Stove League resumed its broadcast on SBS last night with nationwide ratings of 12.0, 14.4, and 15.3 percent.

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