These Are The UK’s Favourite Game Shows, Does Your Favourite Make The List?

On The Table Read, “the best entertainment magazine in the UK“, gaming experts Mahjong Challenge reveal the UK’s favourite game shows based on annual Google searches.

• Countdown is the most popular UK game show with 996,000 annual searches
• The Chase comes in second place, with 840,000 searches per year

The UK’s most popular game show gets almost one million searches each year, new research has revealed.  

The study, commissioned by gaming experts Mahjong Challenge analysed the average number of yearly Google searches for more than 60 game shows on UK TV to reveal the top 10. 

UK’s Favourite Game Shows

The most popular UK game show is ‘Countdown’ with more than 996,000 annual searches. The words and numbers quiz challenge was the first program to be aired on Channel Four back in 1982, and 40 years later holds the top spot in UK Google searches. 

ITV’s ‘The Chase’, presented by Bradley Walsh, is the second most popular game show with 840,000 searches per year – twice the average of the top ten game shows. The show sees contestants battle against a professional quizzer in an effort to win a cash prize, with individuals walking away with as much as £75,000! 

‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ takes third place with 456,000 annual searches. The show, originally hosted by Chris Tarrant and later by Jeremy Clarkson, first aired in the UK in 1998 but has since aired in more than 120 countries in more than 80 languages, making it one of the most successful game shows on TV. As such, it is not surprising to see it in the top 10 most searched for UK game shows. 

With 360,000 searches per year, ‘Catchphrase’ sits in the fourth position. The show first aired in 1986 and is currently presented by Steven Mulhern. Contestants try to guess the correct catchphrase with the help of a photo or animation. 

The fifth most popular UK game show is ITV’s quiz program ‘Tenable’ hosted by Warwick Davis, where contestants try to find the top ten answers in a given category. Next is BBC’s ‘Mastermind’, which sees players answer challenging questions to collect the most points. In seventh place is ‘Blankety Blank’, a comedy game show where contestants try to match the answers of a celebrity panel guessing the missing word in a statement. All three game shows have more than 300,000 searches per year. 

Rank	UK Game Show	Monthly Search Volume	Yearly Search Volume
1	Countdown	83,000	996,000
2	The Chase	70,000	840,000
3	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire	38,000	456,000
4	Catchphrase	30,000	360,000
5	Tenable	28,000	336,000
6	Mastermind	26,000	312,000
7	Blankety Blank	25,000	300,000
8	Tipping Point	22,000	264,000
9	Crystal Maze	21,000	252,000
10	Question of Sport	21,000	252,000

Mahjong Challenge

A spokesperson for Mahjong Challenge commented on the study: 

“Game shows have been a staple in many homes across the UK since the 1950s and some of the most successful game shows on TV originated here in Britain. It will be interesting to see how the popularity changes over the coming years though, since 75% of Countdown viewers are in the 55 plus age range, whereas The Chase has a wider target audience. 

“Game shows face more competition than ever before to capture the attention of younger audiences, since they are used to having access to endless entertainment at the touch of a button through services such as Netflix and Prime Video.” 

Full List:

Please see the full list of 60+ UK Game Shows and their Google search data: 

Rank	UK Game Show	Monthly Search Volume	Yearly Search Volume
1	Countdown	83,000	996,000
2	The Chase	70,000	840,000
3	Who Wants to Be a Millionaire	38,000	456,000
4	Catchphrase	30,000	360,000
5	Tenable	28,000	336,000
6	Mastermind	26,000	312,000
7	Blankety Blank	25,000	300,000
8	Tipping Point	22,000	264,000
9	The Crystal Maze	21,000	252,000
10	Question of Sport	21,000	252,000
11	8 Out of 10 Cats	19,000	228,000
12	Family Fortunes	17,000	204,000
13	The Cube	16,000	192,000
14	Hole in The Wall	15,000	180,000
15	The Hit List	15,000	180,000
16	Come Dine With Me	15,000	180,000
17	Wheel of Fortune	15,000	180,000
18	University Challenge	13,000	156,000
19	Deal or No Deal	13,000	156,000
20	Eggheads	12,000	144,000
21	The Weakest Link	6,500	78,000
22	Total Wipeout	6,400	76,800
23	Gladiators	5,600	67,200
24	In For a Penny	4,900	58,800
25	Challenge Anneka	4,000	48,000
26	Raven	2,500	30,000
27	Pop Idol	2,200	26,400
28	Catchpoint	2,200	26,400
29	Are You Smarter Than a 10 Year Old	1,800	21,600
30	The Adventure Game	1,700	20,400
31	Knightmare	1,300	15,600
32	Big Fat Quiz of the Year	1,300	15,600
33	The Generation Game	1,300	15,600
34	Bullseye	1,300	15,600
35	Gordon Ramsay’s Bank Balance	1,200	14,400
36	Lingo	900	10,800
37	The Krypton Factor	800	9,600
38	The Wheel	800	9,600
39	The Wall	800	9,600
40	Banzai	700	8,400
41	Qi	600	7,200
42	Fun House	600	7,200
43	Pointless	600	7,200
44	Jungle Run	500	6,000
45	Finders Keepers	500	6,000
46	The Price is Right	400	4,800
47	Blockbusters	350	4,200
48	Lightning	300	3,600
49	Wanted	250	3,000
50	Mr and Mrs	250	3,000
51	Taskmaster	200	2,400
52	Golden Balls	200	2,400
53	Interceptor	200	2,400
54	Impossible	100	1,200
55	Supermarket Sweep	100	1,200
56	Fifteen to One	90	1,080
57	Treasure Hunt	60	720
58	Have I Got News For You	10	120
59	The People Verses	10	120
60	Going for Gold	10	120
61	Sales of The Century	10	120

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