There’s never been an Apple TV+ show with more viewers than Severance. The deeply weird workplace drama even surpassed the beloved Ted Lasso in viewers, Apple itself revealed on Wednesday.
And ratings charts concur — Severance is extremely popular.
Severance pulls in more viewers than Ted Lasso
During its first season, back in 2022, Severance was already popular enough to make it the No. 1 most-streamed series for one week. But there’s no better indication of the strength of its fandom than viewers came back for season two even though behind-the-scenes problems resulted in a three-year wait.
But return they did, and in big numbers.
“According to Apple, through Season 1 and half of Season 2, Severance already has amassed more viewers than any other Apple TV+ series, including three seasons of Ted Lasso, becoming the #1 most-watched series globally on Apple TV+,” Deadline reported on Wednesday.
Ted Lasso was a huge hit — the first for Apple TV+. It stayed near the top of ratings charts during much of its three-season run, so it’s a significant milestone for an Apple series to surpass it.
The experts agree
If anyone is suspicious that Apple is fudging the numbers, movie and TV search engine JustWatch publishes a weekly ratings list of the 10 most popular series on streaming, and Severance sits at No. 1 for the week of February 10 through February 16. It held the same spot the week before. And rival service Reelgood put the show in the No. 2 slot on its list for top-rated series for the week of Feb. 6 to Feb. 12, the most recent for which data is available.
In the hit series, Mark Scout (played by Adam Scott) leads a team of employees who’ve undergone a severance procedure that surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. This daring experiment in “work-life balance” is called into question as Scout finds himself at the center of an unraveling mystery that forces him to confront the true nature of his work … and of himself.
Severance season two brings a new episode each week. The fifth can be watched now, with the sixth coming on Friday. In the meantime, be sure you didn’t miss anything important with Cult of Mac’s recaps of episode one, episode two, episode three, episode four and episode five.
Watch on Apple TV+
Streaming Severance, Ted Lasso plus many others comes with a subscription to Apple TV+. The service is $9.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle.
And Apple’s streaming video service also includes a library of drama, comedies, musicals, children’s shows, nature documentaries, etc.
