The Most Popular TV Shows of the Last 12 Months

This year audiences have been spoiled by some amazing TV across all genres, with many great dramas, comedies and reality shows hitting screens and streaming services throughout 2022.

Netflix had several smash hit shows return like Stranger Things, Better Call Saul and Bridgerton all coming back after relatively long stints away. Amazon Prime also brought us the ever-more popular superhero series The Boys, returning for its third season and really hitting the right notes with audiences.

It wasn’t just all about streaming services either, with traditional channels like the BBC bringing us the much anticipated final season of Peaky Blinders, which went out with a bang as you’d expect from the Shelbys. Reality TV fans also had a lot to enjoy during the year with Love Island, Strictly Come Dancing and Gogglebox all featuring among the most popular shows.

But which show was the most popular? To find out, William Hill Slots conducted research based on search volume from the past year (October 2021 to October 2022) to reveal the most-searched-for shows (globally and UK-specific) as well as the most popular streaming services.

Here’s which TV series came out on top…

Globally Popular Shows  

Netflix’s Stranger Things came out on top in the global rankings after returning for its fourth season back in May and fans of the sci-fi show could not be happier after a three-year gap caused by the pandemic. Evidently, that time off the air had built up huge anticipation among fans, reaching a total of 13.2 million searches worldwide during the period of time the study analysed.

HBO’s hit series Euphoria also returned after the same gap this year for its second season and placed behind Stranger Things in the global rankings. The drama centres on a group of teenagers navigating the struggles of a modern high school as they try to establish their identity, gaining impressive scores on both IMDB (8.4) and Rotten Tomatoes (88%). Its search volume figure was also significant with a peak of just over 10.6 million over the 12 months.

Peaky Blinders ranked third in the global list with a peak search volume of over 8 million. The BBC gangster drama has followed the Shelby family from the end of the first World War through to the political minefield of the 1930s, keeping fans gripped every step of the way. Although it started off with mainly a UK fan base, it has gained a global audience over the years, showcased by its high position on this list. The sixth and final season aired back in February and although this is the last we will see of Tommy Shelby on the small screen, fans will be delighted that there is a film in the works to cap the epic gangster saga off.

Most Popular TV Shows in the UK

Reality TV dominated the UK top ten, with Love Island coming first and Strictly Come Dancing in third place. The former’s popularity is showing no signs of diminishing, with the 2022 premiere drawing in a whopping 5 million viewers and the full season being streamed 250 million times on ITV Hub. That popularity was reflected in search volume, with a peak of 860,000 in the UK.

Strictly Come Dancing also garnered an impressive peak search volume figure of 743,000 after returning for its twentieth season and it still draws in an average of 6.8 million viewers per episode. However, there is constant speculation about when the series will draw to a close, with audience numbers (despite still being impressive) on the decline year on year.

Stranger Things edged ahead of Strictly and took second place in the UK rankings with a peak search volume of 751,000. There was quite a gap between third and fourth place though, with Peaky Blinders only getting a peak search volume of 505,000, meaning there was a gulf of 238,000.

Most Popular Streaming Services

Netflix topped the global and UK lists for the most popular streaming service, with a peak global search volume of 113 million and 3.78 million in the UK. It is easy to see why with Netflix being the original streaming service and still having so many exclusive series on the platform.

The rest of the lists differed quite a lot with Amazon Prime coming second in the global rankings (13.78 million) but only managing fifth place in the UK with a peak search volume of 757,000. BBC iPlayer took second spot in the UK list with 3.54 million peak searches and fourth spot in the global rankings, which is to be expected given that it’s a UK-based platform.

Elsewhere, newer platforms like Apple TV and Disney+ had much lower search volume than expected. Apple TV had a peak of 176,000 worldwide and just 10,000 in the UK, which will come as a surprise given the weight behind the brand and the number of shows it boasts, with hits like Ted Lasso and Severance available on the service. Disney+ fared better with 3.84 million globally, but only managed 180,000 in the UK.