Viewership of “I Am a Singer” rises... Kim Bum-soo wins the second round. Songs from “I Am a Singer” dominate the digital download charts.

Despite the controversy surrounding MBC “Sunday Night Show (I Am a Singer)” due to the show producer’s decision to give singer Kim Gun-mo a second chance upon his elimination, more viewers watched the following episode.

On March 27th, “I am a Singer” attracted an audience with double-digit percentages at 11.1% (TNmS household audience, Nationwide: All provinces and Jeju). This was a 1.6% increase from the previous week’s showing of 9.5% of all TV viewers.

On March 6th, MBC overhauled its “Sunday Night Show” and viewership has risen as a result from 6.1% on March 13th to 7.5% on March 20th, and the show finally broke inot the double digits with 11.1% on March 27th. Slotted in the same primetime hour as the “Sunday Night Show,” KBS2’s “Happy Sunday (Qualifications of Men, Two Days and One Night)” fell by 2.2% to 17.3% from the previous week’s 19.5% showing.

Comparing the makeup of the audience that MBC “Sunday Night Show” and KBS2 “Happy Sunday” draws, MBC saw a rise in viewers of all age groups but especially among female viewers aged between 20 and 29 as well as the 40 to 49 age group. The bulk of viewers of KBS2 “Happy Sunday” are female viewers between 30 and 49 and male viewers between 40 and 49.

Meanwhile, “I Am a Singer” has enjoyed success in digital downloads where songs sung on the show have dominated the song charts. The digital download and music streaming site Bugs! reports that digital song releases from “I Am a Singer” are the bestselling songs on its website.

Digital downloads of songs sung on the MBC variety program “I Am a Singer,” are sold after each show and they have all reached the top 7. Kim Bum-soo’s version of “Please” propelled him to victory in the second round and it also became the number #1 digital download. Jung Yup came in last place in the contest and his song, “I Will Forget You” moved into the #7 spot in digital downloads.