"Guardian," which ended its 16-episode run last Saturday, scored 315.1 points on the Content Power Index, becoming No. 1 among TV programs during Jan. 9-Jan. 15.

CPI, developed by entertainment company CJ E&M and Nielsen Korea, measures the popularity of TV shows based on the number of views of related news stories, online search tallies and buzz on social media.

"Guardian" is a modern take on the Korean goblin and grim reaper folk lore by Kim Eun-sook, who penned KBS 2TV's "Descendants of the Sun," coupled with a tragedy-romance plot that incorporates reincarnation, and moves back and forth in time.

Gong Yoo stars as Kim Shin, an unbeatable military general 900 years ago who turned into an immortal goblin after being executed by his young king on unfounded charges of treason. His opposite, Kim Go-eun, is the modern-day high school "goblin bride" Ji Eun-tak, who is able to break Kim free of his immortality curse.

The show rewrote cable TV rating history. Its two-episode finale on Saturday recorded an average 20.5 percent viewership rating, beating the previous 19.6-percent cable TV record held by "Reply 1988," another tvN production aired from late 2015 to early 2016.

MBC TV's comedy show "Infinite Challenge," currently on a seven-week hiatus, climbed six notches to second place with 227.2 points. In the Jan. 14 episode, the cast hit the streets searching for people who didn't recognize the show's main host Yoo Jae-suk.

SBS TV's mermaid fantasy drama "Legend of the Blue Sea" fell to third with 226.4 points, while KBS TV's "Hwarang," an idol-studded period drama, dropped a step to fourth with 224.9 points.

SBS TV's medical show "Dr. Romantic," which ended last week to critical and commercial success, ranked fifth with 218.6 points.

Other winners included "Voice," a new OCN crime series which debuted at seventh on the CPI chart, and MBC TV's "Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo," climbing three spots to eighth.

"New Journey to the West 3," tvN's new travel reality show tumbled six notches to finish 12th and SBS TV's jungle survival show "Law of The Jungle" also slipped from fourth spot to ninth on the popularity chart. (Yonhap)