MUMBAI, India — October 27, 2026: IMDb, the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities, today unveiled 10 Years of Streaming in India — An IMDb Report 2026. Based on page views from more than 250 million monthly visitors to IMDb worldwide, the report analyses the Top 10 Most Popular Indian Series for each year from 2016 to 2026. It also examines the wider universe of Indian series to understand trends beyond the most popular titles, including the evolution of audience preferences, the emergence of streaming franchises, and shifts in production and consumption.
Key findings highlight the enduring popularity of titles such as Mirzapur, Scam 1992, The Family Man, Criminal Justice, and Panchayat, alongside the sustained presence of actors such as Pankaj Tripathi, Vikrant Massey, Ali Fazal, Jitendra Kumar, Kapil Sharma, and Sunil Grover. The report also underscores the role of YouTube as a testing ground for original ideas, The Viral Fever’s (TVF) consistent track record of producing popular series, and the growing global interest in Indian series, even as the industry becomes more selective in commissioning new productions.
“Building on the success of last year’s report on Indian cinema, we turned our lens to series and used IMDb Data to understand how a decade of streaming has reshaped audience interests,” said Yaminie Patodia, Head, IMDb India. “This year, we also invited industry leaders, including Gaurav Gandhi (Prime Video), Gunjan Soni (YouTube), Monika Shergill (Netflix), Sameer Nair (former Applause CEO), and Vijay Koshy (The Viral Fever), to share their insights on what lies ahead. Through this report, we continue to empower professionals in India with the authoritative data and insights they rely on IMDb and IMDbPro for, and to make the creative and business decisions that will shape the next decade.”
Key findings from the industry report include:
- Mirzapur earned nine appearances on the IMDb Top 10 Most Popular Indian Series chart, placing every year since its release.
- Scam 1992 is the only series to appear in the chart five times on the back of a single season.
- Crime/thriller series accounted for 48 of the 110 positions. Towards the end of the decade, horror, romance, comedy, and drama also gained ground.
- Prime Video and Amazon MX Player together accounted for 34 of the 110 positions across 17 unique series, more positions than any other streaming service. Netflix recorded 21 positions across 18 unique series, representing the widest range of distinct titles among the streamers highlighted.
- Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey, Jitendra Kumar, Kapil Sharma, and Sunil Grover emerged as ‘The MVPs of Streaming‘ associated with recurring franchises and multiple successful series.
- Kay Kay Menon, Naveen Kasturia, and Mona Singh are the most versatile actors, featuring across five or more series and taking on varied roles rather than being defined by a single recurring franchise. The report’s talent mapping also highlights a large pool of multi-hyphenates, including Shahid Kapoor, Vijay Sethupathi, Samantha, Barun Sobti, and Karan Tacker, underscoring how streaming enables actors to bring an existing identity to a new medium.
- Thirteen of the 64 unique series in the Top 10 chart began on YouTube, with 11 subsequently acquired by subscription-led streaming services. This underlines the role of YouTube in the current landscape, fuelling a large pool of creators to develop stories that can find larger audiences.
- TVF accounted for nine unique series and 17 Top 10 positions, approximately one in every six appearances in the chart. Its run spans titles from TVF Pitchers in 2016 to Sapne vs Everyone in 2026.
- Audience interest in Indian series on IMDb grew approximately 17-fold over the decade.
- New series and seasons commissioned peaked at 202 in 2023 before declining to 169 in 2024 and 145 in 2025. This reflects a more selective environment as the streaming industry consolidates. Hindi accounted for 66% of all Indian streaming originals in 2025.
The full report is available here.
About IMDb
IMDb is the world’s most popular and authoritative source for information on movies, TV shows, and celebrities. Hundreds of millions of customers all over the world rely on IMDb to discover and decide what to watch, advance their professional entertainment careers through IMDbPro, and grow their businesses using IMDb Data and trending insights. Products and services to help fans discover and decide what to watch and where to watch it include: the IMDb website for desktop and mobile devices; apps for iOS and Android; and, X-Ray on Prime Video. For entertainment industry professionals, IMDb provides IMDbPro and Box Office Mojo. IMDb licenses information from its vast and authoritative database to third-party businesses worldwide; learn more at data.imdb.com. IMDb is an Amazon company. For more information, visit https://www.imdb.com/press and follow @IMDb_in.
