The new season of "Produce 101," Mnet's idol survival show, debuted on the top of a TV popularity index, while most prime time dramas on weekdays took a back seat, data showed Tuesday.

(Yonhap)

The second season of "Produce 101" scored 265.7 points on the Content Power Index (CPI), becoming the most popular TV program from April 3-9.

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.

In the survival audition show launched in 2016, a group of viewers called "public producers" choose by popular vote the members of a new project idol group from a pool of 101 trainees from various entertainment companies as well as the group's roster, concept and debut song.

Season one of the program featured a pool of female singers and culminated in the formation of the 11-member project girl group I.O.I. It became a much-hyped show. The newest season feature only male trainees.

tvN's popular Saturday evening reality show "Youn's Restaurant" rose a notch from last week to second place with 242.9 points, and "Chicago Typewriter," a time-slip drama on the same network, debuted third on the chart with 235.6 points.

MBC TV's "I Live Alone" finished at fourth place, making a huge 12-step jump, trailed by SBS TV's "Mom's Diary - My Ugly Duckling," which made a remarkable 23-step climb to the fifth spot.

Weekday TV dramas, though, took a back seat. KBS 2TV's "Queen of Mystery," starring Kwon Sang-woo and Choi Kang-hee, entered the chart at seventh place and was followed by "Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People" and "Ms. Perfect," which finished eighth and ninth, respectively. (Yonhap)