Apple TV+’s All-Time Most Watched Show Revealed — and It Isn’t ‘Ted Lasso’

Since 2020, sports comedy-drama Ted Lasso has been the crown jewel in Apple TV’s crown, but no longer. Now, with an impressive 589 million minutes watched during the week of January 13, the sci-fi psychological thriller Severance has broken every prior record on the service. It’s also been a massive driver of subscriptions to the service, with a +126% increase in new subscribers for the first half of January versus the first half of December, and a huge hit on social media.

The series stars Adam Scott as Mark Scout, an employee of sinister tech corporation Lumon Industries where workers agree to a “severance” procedure in which their work selves (their “innies”) are unaware of anything that goes on in the outside world, and their “outies” have no idea what they actually do while at work. Conspiracies abound, and the characters work to find out more about the lives of their other selves. It also stars Patricia Arquette, Britt Lower, John Turturro, Zach Cherry, Tramell Tillman and Christopher Walken. The series was created by Dan Erickson and Ben Stiller, who also directs.

“We have long admired Ben’s extraordinary gift for original and immersive storytelling, and with he and Dan at the helm, Severance has proven to be an extraordinary success and a cultural phenomenon,” said Matt Cherniss, Apple TV’s head of programming. “The series has become an obsession for audiences all over the world and we can’t wait for people to continue to experience all the masterful twists and turns as the rest of the season unfolds.”

Severance has reportedly generated more than $200 million for Apple off of the first season alone, which released in 2022. The three-and-a-half year wait after a season 1 cliffhanger only increased the level of hype around the second season, and it is currently expected to be a frontrunner at this year’s Emmy Awards. Severance releases new episodes weekly on Thursdays at 9 PM EST.