From Stranger Things dropping the first teaser for its final season to Sex Education Season 4, September is shaping up to be an exciting month for TV fans. New research has revealed the most popular TV series and Stranger Things tops the list. *costs are listed in USD
Our friends at Spin Genie have looked at a range of factors including the cost of the pilot episode, annual Google searches, number of Instagram posts and TikTok views as well as the IMDb rating of the world’s most popular TV series to determine the most successful series of all time.
The most Googled TV shows:
| Rank | Show | Annual Google searches |
| 1 | Stranger Things | 191.3 M |
| 2 | Game Of Thrones | 69.2 M |
| 3 | The Walking Dead | 54.1 M |
| 4 | Bridgerton | 22.5 M |
| 5 | The Witcher | 21.7 M |
| 6 | Westworld | 17.1 M |
| 7 | The Mandalorian | 15.7 M |
| 8 | Narcos | 11.0 M |
| 9 | Orange Is the New Black | 10.3 M |
| 10 | 13 Reasons Why | 10.2 M |
The most searched for TV show is Stranger Things, with over 191 million annual searches. The show is also Instagram’s most popular TV show with over 15.5 million hashtagged posts on the app.
Taking the second spot is Game Of Thrones which receives nearly 70 million Google searches each year. The series was a worldwide success, with media attention lasting for eight years while the show was on air, drawing over 18.1 billion TikTok views and 13.8 million Instagram posts.
The Walking Dead takes the third spot with 54.1 million Google searches annually. The Walking Dead revolutionised the zombie apocalypse genre and captured the attention of millions of viewers across the world.
The research also revealed the top 10 most successful TV shows of all time:
| Rank | Show | Pilot Budget | Google Searches | Instagram Posts | TikTok Views | IMBD Rating | Success Score |
| 1 | Game of Thrones | $10.0M | 69.2M | 13.8M | 18.1B | 9.2 | 9.64 |
| 2 | Stranger Things | $6.0M | 191.3M | 15.5M | 130.2M | 8.7 | 8.10 |
| 3 | The Mandalorian | $12.5M | 15.7M | 2.4M | 4.6B | 8.7 | 7.86 |
| 4 | The Walking Dead | $3.4M | 54.1M | 7.9M | 21.0B | 8.1 | 7.50 |
| 5 | Narcos | $2.5M | 11.0M | 722.3K | 44.7M | 8.8 | 6.43 |
| 6 | Bridgerton | $7.0M | 22.5M | 737.0K | 17.4B | 7.4 | 6.19 |
| 6 | Westworld | $25.0M | 17.1M | 410.0K | 277.7M | 8.5 | 6.19 |
| 8 | The Witcher | $10.0M | 21.7M | 1.3M | 3.3B | 8.1 | 6.07 |
| 9 | House of Cards | $5.0M | 7.0M | 454.4K | 145.3M | 8.7 | 5.84 |
| 10 | The Crown | $13.0M | 589.2K | 571.3K | 5.1B | 8.6 | 5.83 |
Game of Thrones tops the list of the most successful TV shows, scoring 9.64 out of 10. The series is the highest-rated of any of the TV shows on the list, with an IMDB rating of 9.2 out of 10 and has also inspired 13.8 million Instagram posts, the second highest total of any shows.
In second place is Stranger Things with a score of 8.1. The popularity of this series has influenced the charts, with Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill re-entering the charts after appearing on Stranger Things. The series has more Google searches and Instagram posts than any other show in this study, even though the pilot episode budget was just $6 million.
Rounding out the top three with a success score of 7.86 is The Mandalorian. The Disney+ exclusive’s third season stars Pedro Pascal, and the show’s pilot episode is reported to have cost $12.5 million. The series has 15.7 million annual Google searches, 2.4 million Instagram posts and an impressive 4.6 billion TikTok views.
Further findings:
- Vinyl has the most expensive pilot episode of any of the TV shows profiled. Created by Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese, the first episode cost a reported $30 million but failed to generate enough attention for a second season.
- When it comes to TikTok, The Walking Dead tops the list as the most popular TV series totalling more than 21 billion views on the platform.
- Narcos has the cheapest pilot debut of the series profiled, costing $2.5 million. Despite this, the show has gained a following of fans and has over 722,000 Instagram posts about it. Narcos also achieved a high rating of 8.9 on IMDB.