2012's most-watched: Star Awards, heartland dramas, and superheroes

2012 was a good year for MediaCorp’s television channels. Many programmes attracted record-breaking viewership figures, with several attaining a reach of well over 500,000.

Don’t Stop Believin’ topped Ch8’s list of 9pm dramas with a staggering 918,000-strong average viewership. The series’ popularity can easily be attributed to its line-up (hot favourites like Felicia Chin, Elvin Ng, and Romeo Tan, as well as fresh faces like Edwin Goh, Kimberly Chia, Xu Bin and Phua Yida) and its relatable scenarios and characters.

Trailing behind at an extremely close second was similarly star-studded blockbuster It Takes Two with 912,000 views, followed by the period series Joys of Life with 875,000 views.

Several of these dramas achieved immense popularity in the cyber world too – Game Plan and Joys of Life attracted over 1 million clicks on our very own xinmsn Catch-up TV.

Despite bagging numerous Star Awards nominations, Unriddle 2, Poetic Justice and Pillow Talk only managed average views of less than 820,000, earning the 8th, 9th and 10th spots respectively.

Speaking of the Star Awards, both its shows had wow-worthy reaches of 1,315,000 and 1,512,000 respectively. Other Specials that hit the seven-digit mark include the Lunar New Year’s Eve Special, the 30th Drama Anniversary Show, the Thye Hua Kwan Charity Show, Starry Starry Night, and the National Day Parade.

The crown for Ch8’s most popular variety series once again goes to Food Source, which clinched the number one spot in 2011. The infotainment programme, hosted by the vibrant Pornsak, took its 831,000-an-episode viewers on adventures to various countries to learn about the origins of everyday culinary ingredients.