Breaking Bad vs Better Call Saul: A Battle of Popularity

The Popularity of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul

Although Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are two shows that exist in the same television universe, and are often watched together, recent statistics from Netflix have shown which of the two series is more popular among streamers. In 2008, Breaking Bad premiered for the first time, and ran for a total of five seasons. Meanwhile, in 2015, Breaking Bad's spinoff series, Better Call Saul, began and recently ended in 2022 after six seasons. Though the shows are two separate entities, they do share characters, settings, and have the same dark, gritty atmosphere.

The cast of Breaking Bad in a promo shot

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are two series that have made significant names for themselves over the past two decades. Both are highly rated by critics, and both are streamed consistently on Netflix, despite having no new episodes to air. A major part of this is the fact that the two are connected. When a viewer watches Breaking Bad, they discover that there is a spinoff series, and in turn, they watch Better Call Saul, and vice versa. However, despite the fact that both shows are incredibly popular, there is one with better numbers, and therefore, that series could be considered the more popular of the two.

Better Call Saul

The main thread connecting Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul is the character Saul Goodman, a dirty lawyer who represents Walt and Jesse in Breaking Bad and the star of Better Call Saul.

Walt and Jesse in Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad's Popularity on Netflix

As it turns out, according to Netflix's engagement data from 2023, Breaking Bad is more popular than Better Call Saul. In 2023, Breaking Bad was watched for a total of 505,000,000 hours. Breaking Bad season 1 was the season with the least hours watched, at 83,200,000, meanwhile, Breaking Bad season 2 had the most hours watched, with 116,200,000. On the other hand, Better Call Saul was watched for a total of 295,500,000 hours. The most watched installment of Better Call Saul was season 6, at 80,800,000 hours, while the least watched season was season 4 with 38,600,000.

breaking bad walt ozymandias

As shown by the numbers, Breaking Bad was watched almost double the amount that Better Call Saul was watched. Better Call Saul's total is only just above Breaking Bad's halfway point. What these numbers reveal is that Breaking Bad had more views in 2023 than Better Call Saul did. In some ways, this is surprising, considering that Breaking Bad is older than Better Call Saul, and the latter only recently put out its last season. However, these numbers reveal that, to a certain degree, more people want to watch Breaking Bad than Better Call Saul.

Breaking Bad Jesse Kills Gale

While Netflix's numbers provide some insights into the shows' popularity, they are unable to tell the full story. Namely, Netflix's numbers cannot explain the order to watch Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Typically, Breaking Bad is watched before Better Call Saul. This is because Breaking Bad was released first, and Better Call Saul is considered its spinoff. Therefore, new viewers are more likely to start with Breaking Bad over Better Call Saul, which would explain why it has more views. In this way, Better Call Saul is not less popular, it is just that audiences have not gotten to it yet.

Breaking Bad Walt, Walt Jr. and Hank drinking tequila

Viewing Figures on AMC

In the end, the engagement statistics on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul can only say so much. Although Netflix believes Breaking Bad is more popular, AMC's statistics tell a different story. In general, Better Call Saul garnered more viewers while airing on AMC than Breaking Bad did. While Breaking Bad's first season had 1.23 million viewers, Better Call Saul had 3.21. However, by the end of their respective series, the tables had turned. Breaking Bad season 5 had an average of 4.32 million viewers while Better Call Saul season 6 had only 1.27 million. Therefore, the numbers only tell some of the story.

Walt in Breaking Bad season 5

Furthermore, there is the idea that audiences are rewatching Breaking Bad after finishing Better Call Saul. Because Better Call Saul finished in 2022, viewers likely watched the series finale when it came out last year, then decided to rewatch Breaking Bad in 2023 to start the entire cycle over again. In this way, Better Call Saul could see much higher numbers in coming years as these rewatchers finish Breaking Bad and move onto Better Call Saul. Ultimately, there is always a sense of mystery with statistics like these, however, these are some major guesses as to why Breaking Bad might seem 'more popular' than Better Call Saul.