On January 5th, Japanese media outlet�Sponichi reported the viewer ratings for the country's biggest year-end music festival, '62nd NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen', which included performances from 50 artists. According to Sponichi, SNSD's performance brought in 39.9% in viewership ratings, while 38.4% tuned in for KARA's performance. This is quite an achievement for both groups considering how Japan's most popular female group, AKB48, achieved 38.9%. However, one thing to take into consideration is that the first half of Kohaku usually records less viewer ratings than the second half. AKB48 performed during the 1st half, while SNSD and KARA performed during the 2nd half of the show. Meanwhile, the artist that brought in the most viewer ratings for the night was the popular Japanese group, SMAP, with 48.2%.�TVXQ came close with 42.6%, a very impressive feat for a Korean artist. Additionally, this was the third time that TVXQ was invited to participate in the festival, which demonstrates their continuous popularity in Japan. Source: Star News