Everyone has their own unique habits when it comes to Netflix. Personally, I binge watch House of Cards within a week of each new season, try to check out every new comedy special, and generally fall asleep at night to Futurama or Forensic Files. To you, that might not sound appealing, but it’s my routine and I like it. Because TV habits are so uniquely personal, you might not think compiling the entire world’s Netflix preferences into a giant popularity list would make much sense, but that’s just what the web gurus at HSI did, and it proves to be an interesting glimpse into how diverse the world’s TV tastes really are.
The study, which uses Google Trends data to gauge interest in Netflix-streamable shows based on search volume, isn’t exactly a scientific analysis, and we’d need Netflix to provide data on what programs are actually being streamed the most frequently, but it’s a start.
For starters, the study lists the top five most popular Netflix shows worldwide. They’re not exactly a shock, but here they are:
- Sherlock
- Friends
- Narcos
- House of Cards
- New Girl
The results for each individual country are a bit more interesting — you can check out the full list here — and show how older shows continue to live on in a big way, especially in places you might not expect. For example, Bolivia’s most-searched show is Futurama, while Kazakhstan loves Scrubs. Peru? They’re apparently crazy about The Wonder Years. As for the United States, this search-based study says the Showtime hit Shameless is our favorite. What say you?
