Data Hub: Which is better – The Office UK or The Office US?
‘The Office’ is a sitcom that is set in a paper company, which follows the everyday lives of ‘the office’ employees. The show was originally created in the UK, but an American remake was also created, both of which have a cult following.
One of the biggest battles that The Office fans have to face is the question of which hit series is better – The Office UK vs The Office US?
Throughout this article, we will be investigating the popularity of both hit tv shows. Our researchers here at TonerGiant have analysed data related to The Office UK and The Office US to uncover which series is most popular in their respective countries of origin. We have also collected data from trusted sources that will be included and referenced throughout this collection of statistics.
The Office UK vs The Office US
Both versions of The Office have driven a significant amount of global popularity. Since The Office UK was released in 2001, it has received a tremendous amount of attention and popularity, winning a total of 23 awards. The Office US has also amassed a huge fan base and since it was released in 2005 has won a staggering 51 awards.
When it comes to fans rating the two shows, The Office UK receives a rating of 8.5/10 on IMDb and 97% on Rotten Tomatoes compared to the Office US which receives a rating of 9/10 on IMDb, although it does have a lower rating on Rotten Tomatoes, scoring 81%.
The Office UK Awards
%
UK Rotten Tomatoes Score
The Office US Awards
%
US Rotten Tomatoes Score
The popularity of The Office in the UK
At TonerGiant, we have carried out our own research to look at the popularity of both series based on the amount of people that are searching for both shows. In the UK, “the office uk” has 18,000 more monthly searches than “the office us” with 51,000 people in the UK searching for “the office uk” compared to 33,000 people searching for “the office us”. This data indicates that in the UK, The Office UK is marginally more popular than The Office US.
However, when we researched the search terms for the most popular characters being Googled in the UK, all of the characters were from The Office US:
"Michael Scott" - Google searches
"erin the office" - Google searches
"Jim the office" - Google searches
"Jan the office" - Google searches
"David Brent" - Google searches
"Pam the office" - Google searches
"Angela the office" - Google searches
When we compare this to people in the UK that are searching for UK characters, there are 12,000 monthly searches for “david brent” but he is the only character in The Office UK that users are searching for, showing that there is significantly more search volume for The Office US characters in the UK.
The popularity of The Office in the US
When investigating the search volume for The Office in the US, “the office uk” has a monthly search volume of 27,000 whereas “the office us” only has a search volume of 5,600. However, there is a search volume of 601,000 for the term “the office” in the United States so this would suggest that people in the US are searching for The Office of their native land which would portray that in the US, The Office US is the more popular out of the two shows.
This data is also supported by research that has been published by Neilson, and they have uncovered that in 2020, The Office US was the most streamed acquired series on Netflix with consumers watching more than 57 billion minutes of The Office.
US Office Netflix minutes watched
Peak Popularity
Since The Office UK and The Office US have been released, they have both been extremely well-received globally. The search term “watch the office” saw the highest all-time searches worldwide in October 2009, with 308,000 searches that month alone.
Worldwide, “the office us” had a huge spike in January 2021, with 176,000 searches whereas “the office uk” saw peak searches much earlier, in 2004.
In the UK, the search term “watch the office” hit an all time high in May 2013, with 13,000 searches that month and it has recently gained more popularity in the UK as “watch the office” is up 26% this year compared to last year and is up 94% in March 2023 compared to the February prior.
In the US, the peak popularity time of The Office was much earlier than the UK and the search term “watch the office” peaked in October 2009, with the highest all time search volume being 166,000. As well as the UK, The Office has also gained more popularity in the US this year compared to last year as searches are up 10% year on year.
Increase in searches for “watch the office” vs 2022
%
The Office US
%
The Office UK
The year of peak searches for “watch the office” by country:
The Office US
The Office UK
Summary of statistics
From the research that we have collected at TonerGiant compiled with the research from other trusted sources, we can determine that both The Office UK and The Office US remain to be extremely popular tv shows globally, even a decade after the show’s ending. It is clear to see that The Office US is more popular in the United States and The Office UK is more popular in the United Kingdom, showing the loyalty of fans to their native version.
Methodology
Ahrefs was used to find the highest searched terms related to The Office for the UK and the US. This then identified how many average monthly searches have occurred on Google and Youtube for these terms in the UK and the US. average monthly search data in both and Youtube data in both the UK and the US.
Glimpse was used to find the time period in which the peak popularity times of specific search terms were and how many searches this accumulated.
Data sourced by TonerGiant was collected in March 2023.